Adventure 3: Digimon Next
by dcnfreak
Summary: A cross between the Adventure series and the Digimon Next manga. Better Summary within. Please R&R. Couples: Takari, Taiora, and Koumi. Chapters 7-10 are up! Please R&R.
1. Prologue

Summary: Four years have passed since the defeat of MaloMyotismon and now another enemy from the past has risen. The original Digidestined must face this threat without their Digimon partners. True feelings are revealed and sacrifices will be made. New adventure means new powers in this reimagining based on the Digimon Next manga. Rated T for violence and some romantic scenes and language. Couples: T.K./Kari, Tai/Sora, Izzy/Mimi, and slight Ken/Yolei.

Here are all the ages just so there's no confusion

Cody-14

T.K./Kari/Davis/Ken-16

Yolei-17

Izzy/Mimi-19

Tai/Sora/Matt-20

Joe-21

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Prologue

I can't believe it's been four years since our last adventure. Four years ago we defeated MaloMyotismon. Four years ago the Digimon became a permanent part of our world. And now here we are again about to go on another adventure. But I'm getting ahead of myself, my name is T.K. Takaishi and I'm a 16 year old junior at Odaiba High School. I'm also part of the original group of people who first learned about the Digimon called The Digidestined. There were 8 of us originally: my brother, Matt Ishida, my best friend, Kari Kamiya, her brother, Tai, then there was Sora Takenouchi, Mimi Tachikawa, Izzy Izumi, and Joe Kido. We defeated Digimon like Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, The Dark Masters, Apocalymon and many others in order to save the digital world and our own. 4 years later, our two worlds were in danger again and Kari and I were called on once again to defend them; we were joined by Davis Motomiya, Yolei Inoue, and Cody Hida. We defeated the Digimon Emperor who turned out to be our future friend Ken Ichijouji. Together, along with the other Digidestined from around the world, we defeated MaloMyotismon and brought our two worlds together. We've grown up a lot since then:

Matt is still playing music; after he graduated he was able to dedicate more time to it. He's gotten a steady fan base enough to keep his band alive; he had a hit a year after MaloMyotismon was defeated and he went on tour and everything, but since then nothing as big. He hasn't started college or shown any interest in going. My dad says he's been thinking about joining the military. I hope he's not just trying to get away from Sora.

Sora is studying fashion design at Odaiba University and plays on the tennis team. My brother and her broke up two years ago. Most people would think that she couldn't stand the fan girls, but I know it had more to do with the fact that he didn't want to give up the music, and as much as I hate to admit it, I know something happened when he went on tour. She seems happier, but at the same time still distracted.

Tai got a scholarship to play for the University Soccer team. He has also been studying Political Science. He still tries to act like the leader most of the time; I guess old habits die hard. We actually see each other a lot I guess because of Kari, but he still treats me like a kid. I thought he'd be happier but I know something is bothering him. He was there for my brother when Sora dumped him, but they had a big argument two weeks ago about I don't know what.

Izzy, well if you knew him you wouldn't be surprised to know that not only did he graduate high school early but he got a full scholarship to Odaiba University to Study Computer Programming; shocker. Apparently he already has a job offer from the DWRG, the Digital World Research Group, he's hesitant on whether to take it or not.

Mimi realized how much she missed everyone and finally came back to Japan, at least for college; I don't think she's chosen a major yet though. I've heard Izzy has been tutoring her in her harder classes, and according to him she has become a really good cook.

Joe is working really hard to get into medical school this year, but we all know he's a shoe-in. I mean he's always been the one of us who is rarely around because of his studies and seeing him more often just clarifies that he's almost done, at least for a while. However, he seems lost again like when we were kids; I just wish he'd give himself a little slack.

Davis has surprisingly taken a lot more interest in his studies. From what he's told me, he's trying to keep his dream of opening his own noodle cart alive; personally, I think he's keeping himself distracted because he misses the adventures the most. He's almost gotten over his crush on Kari; well, almost.

Ken has really become part of the group now. He moved into my apartment complex and started dating Yolei right after the final battle. Even though he's not the person he was when he had the dark spores, he still does really well in school and is co-captain of the soccer team with Davis. He smiles a lot more now.

Yolei is preparing to graduate high school and go on to college with the older kids. However she is real emotional about leaving Ken in high school by himself. Ken tries to assure her that she shouldn't worry, but if you knew Yolei you'd know that's almost impossible.

Cody is finally with us in high school and I'm pretty sure he's going to end up skipping a grade if not two. He already knows that when he gets to college that he wants to study law and eventually go to law school. I wish I was as sure as him about what I want to do.

I think Kari is the happiest out of everyone. Her dream has always been for the two worlds to be united and now that's it has come to pass she feels there's no need to worry anymore; the fact that Davis doesn't hit on her as much anymore helps too. She says she wants to be a teacher someday, why anyone would want to go to school just to end up working at a school is beyond me, but that's Kari for you.

That just leaves me. Well, ever since we defeated MaloMyotismon I've only had one thing on my mind, Kari. Let's face it I've been crazy about her since we were 8. I can't imagine my life without her. While we were Digidestined, I kept my feelings hidden because I felt that what we were doing was too important and needed all our attention. Also, after what happened between my Brother and Sora I didn't want to risk our friendship. However, lately it's been getting harder to hide how I feel. It's not like she has a boyfriend or anything, but I can't stand it when guys hit on her. My friends on the basketball team always tease me saying she's my girlfriend and most of the times I wish it were true. I was never sure how she felt about me though.

Little did I know that we were about to go on an adventure, our last real adventure, that would finally shed the light on all our lives.


	2. Anniversary Part I

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 1: Anniversary Part I

As the sun was rising over the city of Odaiba, I felt like I was the only one in the whole city awake. I put on my slippers and a nice warm coat and headed to the roof of my apartment complex, as I have done every time I woke up this early for the past 4 years, also making sure not to wake up my partner, Patamon. As I waited in the elevator I couldn't help wondering why I had started doing this, but something about it just felt peaceful. The elevator opened and I walked out and put on my IPod and sat against the ledge. As I sat there I slowly started drifting back to sleep; flashbacks of my adventures started to come back into play: the first time I met Patamon, the time I lost Angemon, The time Kari and I were chased by Piedmon, the first time the two of us got our Digi-eggs, the time I fought Ken, all of the sudden I heard aloud roar and I jumped into a defensive position. I looked up and saw a flock of Airdramon flying by and calmed myself down. Even though it had been 4 years since the Digimon were able to roam freely in our world, and vice versa, I would still react like that sometimes. An hour passed by and I felt like it was time to head back downstairs. When I got back to my apartment I saw a note on the table:

"Saw you weren't in bed so I figured you were on the roof. I headed off to work early. Love you. Mom"

"Guess breakfast is on me." I thought to myself. As I started cooking some eggs I could hear the loud yawn of my loyal flying guinea pig. He always woke up to the smell of food.

"Good Morning Sleeping Beauty"

"I don't understand how you can get up so early sometimes T.K.?" Patamon yawned. I finished cooking and set a place for me and my partner. He looked up at me when he was done,

"So are you excited for today?"

"Yeah, it's always good to see the others and at least today everyone will be there."

"When are we all meeting?"

"Probably around ten."

"Well then I'm going back to sleep for a little while."

"Ok," I laughed as I watched him slump his way back to my room.

**An hour later **

"Come on T.K., you know Kari hates it when you're late." Patamon yelled from 10 feet down the road.

"I wouldn't be running late if you didn't fall back asleep."

As we arrived at Kari's house I caught myself involuntarily fixing the collar on my jacket and making sure my hat was straight, "Chill out it's just Kari," I thought to myself as I knocked on the door. When it opened there she was, the girl I knew I was in love with but hadn't had the courage to say anything about it.

"You're late," she said sarcastically.

"By like 5 minutes," I argued back. She laughed. "You ready?"

"Yeah, just let me get Gatomon."

The four of us made our way to the park to meet with everyone else. As we approached I could see in the distance all of our old teammates. No one had drastically changed in the last four years. Us younger kids were a bit taller, and even though much taller, Cody was still the shortest. Joe wore his hair in a ponytail now which was kind of funny, Mimi had gotten rid of the pink hair and went back to her original color, and Tai, Matt, and Davis still had the same hairstyles just shorter hair.

"Nice of you two to finally show up." Davis commented

"Sorry everyone. Were you guys waiting long?"

"No not really." Sora reassured me.

"All right now we're all here let's get the show on the road," Tai exclaimed.

Everyone nodded in agreement. We all headed to a restaurant not too far from the park. They sat us down at the biggest table in the restaurant while our Digimon sat on the patio. We were treated like celebrities on this day, the anniversary of the defeat of MaloMyotismon. Later there would be a parade in our honor. We sat there for a good hour just talking and laughing, filling each other in on what's going on with our lives and what we did over winter break for the holidays. We all kind of calmed down after the food got there and once everyone was done eating Tai stood up:

"Well guys it's been 4 years since the defeat of MaloMyotismon and I got to say I'd never thought we'd see the day when we're no longer needed but after all this time I think it's finally come. We've enjoyed peace all over our world and the Digi-world and now we have our Digimon with us forever. I look at everyone at this table and realize that I can't imagine my life without any of you, and I can't think of any better people to have been the original Digidestined with. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everyone clanked their glasses together.

We sat there for a little bit longer then we broke to go get ready for the night. Tai walked up to me and Kari,

"Hey Kari, Me and the older kids are going to go have a couple drinks before tonight. T.K., do you mind walking her home for me?

I jumped at the opportunity, "Yeah, of course, I mean if it's ok with her?"

She chuckled, "Why wouldn't it be?"

Tai jumped back in, "Alright thanks, I appreciate it, and you two behave now." He winked at me as he walked over to the others. I hate it when he winks at me like that. I can never tell if it's a "go for it" wink or a "keep your hands to yourself or I'm going to smash your face in" wink.

As we walked to Kari's apartment I thought to myself if now would be the right time. Would I finally get the courage to tell the girl of my dreams how I really feel about her? Can we finally be together now that our duty to the Digi-world is done? Does she even feel the same way about me? As I was asking myself all these questions I finally realized that we had been walking in silence and before I could break it we got to her apartment.

"Well, this is me," she said as she pulled out her key.

"So are you excited for tonight?"

"Yeah, I mean the parade is always fun and I got big plans for tonight."

"Oh really? And they would be?"

"I'm not telling. You're just going to have to wait until tonight, but trust me when I say it's pretty big."

"Looking forward to it," I laughed as she opened the door.

"You know, I feel like tonight is going to be one of those nights."

I answered as calmly as possible, "I got the same feeling. See you tonight."

As I walked to the elevator I wonder if that was a sign, or a hint, or something. Did I have something to do with her plans? Or did she have some news I wasn't going to like. No, I couldn't let that happen. I was resolved that I was going to tell her at the parade. Whether or not she feels the same I have to do it. This would either be the worst night of my life or the night my dream would finally come true.


	3. Anniversary Part II

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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As I was walking home, I couldn't help but wonder how everyone else was getting ready for the parade.

Tai's POV

The older Digidestined and I walked to a bar not too far from the restaurant where we had just had dinner with the younger kids. As we were walking I couldn't help but notice Sora. We had made it a tradition to wear, if possible, the exact same outfits we had worn during our final battle. Childish, yes, fun, also yes. Cody was the only one who had a problem with it. Anyways, I had always thought Sora looked so beautiful in that light blue winter coat with the purple scarf; although, at the same time it was the same outfit she broke my heart in. It had been four years since that happen and two years since her and Matt broke up. Of course I was mixed with emotions and I've done my best to keep my feelings in check, but lately I can't stand it anymore. Let's face it, I'm in love with the girl and I can't see myself with anyone else but her. I just don't know how to approach the situation. As I was thinking of all of this Izzy noticed I was staring and brought me back to reality.

"Hey Tai, you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking about tonight." I tried to clear my head

We got to the bar and Joe bought the first round of drinks. I sat between Sora and Matt, as usual, while Mimi sat across Sora, Izzy from me, and Joe from Matt. We sat there talking for a while about college and stuff and when it got quite Joe spoke up.

"I can't believe it's almost been a decade since this all started."

"Two more years to go." Sora added.

"What's going to happen to us after ten years?" Mimi asked sighing.

"Ten more I guess." I sighed.

"I'm serious," Mimi said slightly annoyed.

Izzy interjected, "I think what Tai is trying to say is that life is just going to move on. Let's face it, we're not Digidestined anymore, the only reminder we have is this parade every year, then we go back to our normal lives. We're all in college now and the younger ones will soon be joining us. Our adventures are over."

It fell quiet for a good minute until Mimi spoke up again reaching for Izzy's hand, "But we'll all still be friends right?"

Sora smiled and reached for her other hand, "Of course Mimi that is the one thing that will never change." She looked to me and Matt for reassurance.

"Yeah Mimi, we'll always have each other." Matt spoke first even though you could tell there was hurt behind his voice. I spoke up before anybody else could notice.

"And nothing, not even ten or twenty years, will come between us." I lifted my glass. Everyone else followed suit. "No matter what we're Digidestined for life." our glasses clinked together and we all took a drink. I bought the next round and we decided to go home and get ready. Joe gave Matt a ride home while Izzy, the girls and I decided to walk back to the dorms ourselves. Izzy and Mimi walked a little behind Sora and I. At first I thought he was trying to pull something until Sora said something strange,

"They look cute together don't they?"

"Who!?"

"Izzy and Mimi."

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

She looked back to make sure they couldn't hear, "Alright, I'll tell you, Mimi has a crush on Izzy."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"

"Keep your voice down."

"When did this happen!?"

"According to her, they've really gotten close ever since he started tutoring her. She says there's always been something about Izzy that she's admired and it's just grown over the past couple of years. He makes her feel smart and makes her laugh. She says she really doesn't even need as much tutoring anymore she just likes spending time with him."

I was in shock, "Wow, go Izzy!"

"He doesn't know."

"Why not!?"

"Because she doesn't know how he feels."

"Oh I'll make him talk."

"You can't tell him Tai, promise me!" I noticed the seriousness in her voice.

"Well I promise but she should tell him."

"She's thinking about doing it tonight."

"That'd be amazing! You know, I've always had a feeling that those two belonged together. I mean, I know Joe had a crush on her too, but she and Izzy just seem to fit."

She giggled, "It's funny how after so long people who belong together just seem to end up that way." She stared at me, like she was waiting for an answer.

"Yeah…," I took my chance, "So Sora I was wondering…"

"Yeah Tai?"

"…if you didn't have anything to do after the parade…"

"Yeah…"

"…do you want to go out for dinner afterward?"

"Tai Kamiya, are you asking me out on a date?" she asked excitedly.

"Absolutely!"

"I'd love to!" She grasped my hand and we interlocked fingers. Unfortunately we had just arrived at the girls' dorm. As Izzy and Mimi were hugging I gave Sora a kiss on the cheek and back up waiting for a reaction. She giggled,

"I think you missed."

I took the hint, but as I moved in to kiss her she put her finger on my lips.

"You're just going to have to try again tonight."

I laughed, "Looking forward to it."

As Izzy and I walked to our dorm I couldn't help but smile at what the night had in store. Izzy noticed my upbeat attitude,

"So I'm guessing you had a good conversation with Sora."

I laughed, "You could say that; and how was your conversation with Mimi?"

He could hear the mischievousness in my voice, "What are you talking about?"

I wanted so badly to tell him, but I remembered my promise, "Nothing. Tonight is going to be one of those nights Izzy I can feel it."

He looked at me in confusion. I laughed and put my arm over him as we walked to our dorm to get ready for the night.


	4. Anniversary Part III

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 3: Anniversary Part III

T.K.'s POV

I was so excited about this year's parade. I mean we had three before, but this one just seemed as if it was going to be special. I didn't really like having to dress up though; I put my tux that I had always wore, simple except for my yellow tie; another tradition of ours was that the guys would each wear a tie the color of their crest while the girls wore dresses in the same scheme. Patamon also like to put on a top hat and a little bow tie to match me, it always made me laugh.

"You ready Patamon?"

"Yeah let's go get Kari and Gatomon already."

"Alright settle down. Mom, Patamon and I are leaving. See you at the parade."

"Okay, be safe."

I grabbed my dark green winter coat and my signature hat and we headed out. As we made our way to Kari's apartment, I couldn't help but remember what she had said earlier about her plans hoping that I was a part of them. We finally made it to her apartment; I knocked on the door and waited anxiously. When she finally opened the door all I could do is stand there in amazement. Kari was wearing a beautiful pink winter dress over white warmers and pink heels. I also noticed that she was wearing a yellow flower over her heart, I wondered if it was a hint of some sort.

"Is something wrong?" she finally said.

I said the only thing that I could, "You look…beautiful." I couldn't believe I actually said that.

"Well thank you, you don't look too bad yourself."

"At least you don't look as silly as I do." Gatomon came out from behind Kari with a pink bow tied around her tail.

"You don't look that bad Gatomon." Kari attempted to reassure her partner.

"I just feel like I look ridiculous."

"Oh come on, it's fun dressing up!" Patamon finally spoke.

Gatomon finally got a good look at my partner's little get up, "Well at least now I know I won't look the most ridiculous."

Kari and I couldn't help but laugh. She turned to close the door. "Mom, T.K. and I are heading to the parade."

"Okay honey, your father and I will be there later. Goodbye T.K."

"Goodbye Mrs. Kamiya."

As we walked to the park, where the parade was going to start, we walked in awkward silence yet again. I don't know what was going through her mind, but I couldn't help but argue with myself on whether to hold her hand or not. I could've used some excuse about it being cold but her hands were already in her pockets. She wouldn't look at me and Gatomon and Patamon were a few steps ahead of us I decided to try and say something.

"So…nice night."

"Yeah" she giggled

"So, about those plans you had for tonight?"

She laughed again, "I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"And that will be?"

"HEY GUYS WAIT UP!" all of the sudden Davis came out of nowhere as usual and just killed it. He was wearing a tux with a golden tie; Veemon dressed similar to Patamon except to match Davis.

"Hi Davis," I sighed heavily.

"Hey T.A."

"After all these years I'm going to tell you one last time, his name is T.K." There seemed to be a little bit of anger behind Kari's voice. Davis, Veemon and I were taken back a little.

"Sorry Kari."

Then Veemon broke the silence, "Well there's no point in just standing around here, let's get going!"

It took us maybe 10 minutes to get to the park. Tai, Izzy, Sora, Mimi and their Digimon were already there. Tai and Izzy were in their tuxes with orange and purple ties respectively. Sora and Mimi were similar dress to Kari's except red and green respectively. All the Digimon matched their partners. Kari walked over to the girls while Tai and Izzy walked over to me and Davis.

"So how's it going T.K.?"

"Fine Izzy, how about you?"

"Not as good as you apparently."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Tai, you haven't told him?"

Tai smacked his forehead, "Izzy, Kari hasn't done it yet, for a genius you can be a real idiot sometimes."

"Wait are you two talking about!?' Davis asked curiously. I was curious as well

Tai looked back to make sure the girls couldn't hear him, "Well apparently my sister seems to have a crush on Takaishi over here and was planning on telling him tonight but thanks to the genius here now he knows."

Davis' jaw dropped, "You have got to be kidding me, him!?"

Izzy chuckled, "Honestly Davis if you haven't noticed it by now you really are delusional."

Tai joined in the laughter, "So T.K., we got to talk."

My face dropped and I felt a giant pit in my stomach, "About what?"

He laughed at the trembling in my voice and pulled me aside, "I just got one question for you T.K., do you like my sister?"

"I'm not sure what the right answer is in this situation."

"Just answer honestly."

"Well then honestly Tai…I've been in love with your sister for a long time." I waited for a punch to the face; all I got was a slap on back.

"Well good."

"You're not mad?"

"I'd be madder if you didn't like her at all. You're a good kid T.K. I've always known that about you. I've always been able to count on you, especially when it comes to my sister, she told me about what happened in the Dark Ocean and I can't imagine what would've happen if you weren't there. I honestly can't think of anyone better to date my sister than you."

"Well I really appreciate that Tai, and I'm glad that I have your blessing."

"However," he wrapped his arm around my neck jokingly, "if you break her heart I will have to kill you."

I was finally able to laugh, "Understandable."

Kari finally caught sight of Tai and I alone out of the corner of her eye and snuck over. "What exactly are you two talking about over here?"

Tai laughed, "Just guy talk."

Sora came up behind Tai and grabbed his arm, "Come on guys, Matt and the others are all already by the floats getting ready."

As we walked over I noticed for a split second that Sora and Tai were much more "buddy-buddy" than usual and Mimi was walking extra close to Izzy. However, I couldn't help thinking about what Tai had said to me. Now I knew the girl of my dreams felt the same way about me, but how could I let her tell me before I told her? I had to beat her to it somehow. We arrived at the float with the other Digidestined and Digimon. Matt and Joe were wearing their respect crest colored ties, Ken and Yolei had matching color schemes in lavender, Cody had a light blue tie, and every Digimon matched their respect partner. They had two floats for us, as always; one for the older Digidestined and another for the younger ones. On the older ones' float, it had three platforms with a stage in the middle. Usually each crest pairing, Tai/Matt, Sora/Mimi, Izzy/Joe, would stand on a platform with the Digimon in the middle. Sora and Mimi however suggested they switch it up so Sora stood with Tai on the left, Mimi with Izzy on the right, and Matt and Joe in the center. Our float was similar and usually we stood with our DNA partners: Davis/Ken, Yolei/Kari, Cody and I.

However it seemed Kari had a plan of her own this year. She winked at Yolei and Yolei started, "Ken, I really want to stand with you this year. We never get to stand together."

Ken fell for the puppy dog eyes, "Well I mean if it's alright with Davis I would be more than happy to…"

"Great idea," Davis jumped at the chance completely disregarding what he had heard earlier, "I'll stand with Kari!"

Kari immediately interjected, "Well I see no reason to just switch, we should mix it up, how about you stand with Cody and I'll stand with T.K.?"

Yolei interjected, "That sounds like a plan to me." Cody and Ken nodded in agreement. Davis sulked a little but eventually accepted the group decision. So it was Davis and Cody in the middle, Yolei and Ken on the left and Kari and I on the right.

"So was this part of your plan?"

She giggled, "Maybe?"

The parade soon started and it seemed the whole city was out to celebrate. There were floats and many attractions, but everyone was waiting for our floats to pass by. With the older Digidestineds' float behind ours, we rode into view and the crowds started cheering. The Digimon put on a little show on stage while the Digidestined just waved. I saw all our parents in their special seats; it was nice to see my dad and mom together for at least a night. As the parade continued I couldn't help but keep looking at Kari and wondering when she was going to make a move, so I decided to do it myself.

"Having fun."

"A blast."

"So Kari there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well there was something I wanted to talk to you about too, but you can go first!"

"Well it's about you and…Patamon?"

"Patamon?"

I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Patamon was in pain. Kari turned around and noticed that Gatomon and the others were the same way.

Kari screamed in fear, "Gatomon!"

All of the sudden I heard Sora screaming behind us, "Biyomon!" and I realized the same was happening. I looked into the crowd and all the Digimon were acting this way.

"T.K." Patamon called to me.

"Patamon!" All of the sudden, all the Digimon dissolved away. Everyone started screaming and panicking and then Davis screamed above everyone,

"LOOK OUT!"

We all looked up and what looked like meteors were falling from the sky. Buildings started collapsing and everyone was scrambling in panic. I jumped off the float and Kari followed suit. We ran for a low clearing bridge for cover; I covered Kari and prepared for the worst. For 5 minutes we were under that bridge, it felt like forever. After it fell silent for 10 minutes, we decided to look around.

"What happened, T.K.?"

"I wish I knew."

"KARI!" "T.K.!" we could hear Tai and Matt screaming.

"Over here!" We ran over to them Tai hugged Kari while Matt did me. We noticed all the others behind them.

"What is going on?" Yolei questioned.

"What happened to our Digimon?" Davis followed.

"What happened to all the Digimon?" Cody corrected.

"This can't be happening." Matt said in frustration.

All of the sudden Izzy's D-terminal went off.

"Who would be emailing you at a time like this!?" Mimi questioned.

"It's from Gennai!"

Everyone turned, "GENNAI!?"


	5. An Enemy Returns, A New Adventure Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 4: An Enemy Returns; A New Adventure Begins

T.K.'s POV

As the other Digidestined and I heard the mention of Gennai's name we were anxious to know if our old friend knew anything about what was going on. Izzy read the message aloud:

"DIGIDESTINED,

BY THE TIME YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE IT MAY ALREADY BE TO LATE, BUT SOMETHING IS HAPPENING IN THE DIGITAL WORLD. THE NIGHTMARE SOLDIERS HAVE STARTED A WAR AND I NEED YOUR HELP. I HAVE SENT MY COORDINATES TO IZZY'S LAPTOP SO THE DIGI-PORT SHOULD BRING YOU STRAIGHT TO ME. YOU MUST COME AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE, THE FATE OF BOTH WORLDS DEPENEDS ON IT.

GENNAI"

"Who the hell are the Nightmare Soldiers?" Davis questioned.

Tai quickly switched back into leader mode, "We'll figure that out later, right now we have to get to Gennai as quickly as we can. Izzy, your laptop is back at the dorm right?"

Izzy hesitated a little, "Actually it's in Mimi and Sora's."

Everyone stared for a second until Matt asked, "Why is it there?"

"Well I was helping Mimi with a winter break project she has to do and it got really late so…"

"There's no time for that," Tai interrupted, "Let's get to the girls dorm and get to Gennai!"

Everyone nodded in agreement and we were off. As we ran through the city we couldn't help but look around at the extent of the supposed attack. The city was almost in ruins, worst then when we fought against VenomMyotismon. We could hear people screaming for loved ones and their Digimon. Every fiber of my being wanted to help these people but I knew we had a job to do. It took us about 15 minutes to make our way to the university, which was in no better shape than the rest of the city. Luckily for us, the girls' dorm seemed to be in decent enough shape. We all ran inside, up the stairs, and finally we were at the door of Sora and Mimi's room. Sora pulled out her key and opened the door. As we filed in we could see that the room had been thrown around a bit. Luckily Mimi had put Izzy's computer under her bed so it wasn't damaged. Ken and Cody flipped one of the desk back over so Izzy could work. Once Izzy turned his laptop on he tried to find the portal and realized there was no connection, therefore he could not access the Digi-Port.

"Dammit, I was afraid of this." Izzy slammed his fist on the desk.

"Is there anything you can do?" Tai asked eagerly.

"I have my satellite uplink back in my dorm I'll have to go get it."

"Okay, I'll go with you."

"So will I," Matt said.

"Me too," Davis added.

"Good," Tai exclaimed, "the rest of you just wait here we'll be back soon."

"Be careful," Sora warned as they left.

As the others and I tried to stay calm while we waited Kari couldn't help but stare out the window at the destruction. Ken and Yolei were in the corner trying to make the TV work, Sora and Mimi were sitting on the bed talking about something, I swore I heard Izzy's name mentioned, Joe and Cody were standing by the door keeping guard, considering the state of panic we couldn't be too careful. I went up to Kari and put my hands on her shoulders. She put her hands on top of mine and we stood there in silence. I could feel the pain she was feeling, not only was the city in ruins, but Gatomon was gone. I was sure she felt as helpless as the rest of us did; feeling like we couldn't save our Digimon and now here we were unable to do anything but wait. All of the sudden we could hear the sound of gunfire, explosions, and roaring so we looked around outside.

"Oh my God!"

This was all Kari could say to what we saw. Everyone else rushed to the window and looked on at what was happening. The skies were filled with Devidramon and SkullSatamon with a Megadramon and a Gigadramon, and on the ground, an army of Vilemon, Tankmon and Guardromon. The National Guard seemed to be taking up a fight against them, but it was unclear of how they were faring. At the same time Ken and Yolei finally got something on the TV; we couldn't really make out what was being said but we could read the headline on the news, "WHERE ARE THE DIGIDESTINED?" All we could do is watch in horror and feel even more helpless then before. Kari couldn't take it anymore, turned around and buried her head into my chest crying. I wrapped my arms around her. It had been 30 minutes since Matt and the others left and I was starting to worry all of the sudden I could hear Davis screaming in pain. Joe and Cody ran into the hallway to see what was wrong. Then Joe yelled,

"Girls, make room on the bed now!"

Sora and Mimi quickly moved off the bed. Joe, Tai, and Matt came in carrying Davis and laid him on the bed.

"What happened?" Yolei questioned.

Tai answered, "We got to the dorm no problem it wasn't as bad as here so finding what we needed was no problem. Then we heard shooting outside and noticed that there were some soldiers fighting some Vilemon. We tried our best to sneak past but some Vilemon saw us. We basically picked up anything we could use as a weapon and fought them off. A couple of them got a hold of Davis and beat him up pretty bad before we could get them off of him. Then some soldiers recognized us as the Digidestined and helped us get away. How you feeling Davis?"

"Like crap," Davis groaned, "What's the diagnosis doc?"

"Well considering you used the word diagnosis in a sentence properly I can say your head is fine," Joe said trying to lighten things up, "other than that you got some pretty bad scars and bruises, but no broken bones. Some rest and you'll be good to go."

"Well maybe a kiss will make me feel better, how about it Kari?"

"I think you need to check his head again Joe." The others and I couldn't help but chuckle at Kari's comment.

"How's it going over there Izzy?" Tai refocused on the task at hand.

"The uplink is working, thankfully; Digi-Port should be up right about…now!" Izzy exclaimed.

"Alright guys, let's get moving. Ken, TK, grab Davis. Kari, open the portal."

"Right," Kari stepped in front of the computer and held out her D3, "Digi-Port, open!"

The light on the port turned green, everyone lifted there digivices toward the screen and we were off.

**Gennai's House, **Kari's POV

In the blink of an eye we landed in Gennai's house. The original Digidestined hadn't been here since our first adventures, the newer kids and I had only heard of this place in stories. It really hadn't changed apparently. All of the sudden the door to the other room slid open and old Gennai came walking through. The new kids were taken back for a second.

"Who is that?" Yolei finally asked.

Sora couldn't help but chuckle, "That's Gennai."

Yolei was in shock, "That's Gennai!?"

"So this must be the form of Gennai you guys were always talking about; strange." Cody interjected.

"It's good to see you Digidestined, "Gennai spoke, "I wish it was under better circumstances."

Tai stepped forward, "Gennai, what is going on?"

"You may want to sit down." All the girls sat down, Ken and T.K. laid Davis down and knelt beside Yolei and me, the others stayed standing.

"The first thing I must tell you is how the digital world is governed. As you know Azulongmon is one of four Digimon Sovereigns that watch over the Digital World. What you may not know is they separated the Digital World into eight areas, two per sovereign, known as "Fields." Each field represents a major element and species of the Digital World: the angelic species of the light element are called the Virus Busters, the dragon species of the fire element are the Dragon's Roar, the beast species of the earth element are the Nature Spirits, the aquatic species of the water element are the Deep Savers, the avian species of the wind element are the Wind Guardians, the mechanical species of the steel element are the Metal Empire, the insectoid and vegetation species usually of the thunder element are the Jungle Troopers, and the demonic species of the Dark element are known as the Nightmare Soldiers…"

"The ones you mentioned in your message!" Ken interjected.

"…Exactly. It seems that a Digimon has risen from the Nightmare Soldiers convincing them that sharing the world with humans is not only wrong, but that they should rule both worlds instead. They have already recruited the Metal Empire to help and are already working on the Deep Savers and Jungle Troopers. The Virus Busters are considering taking up arms because they know that he will not stop with the human world, but the three remaining Fields refuse to unite against them. I believe with your help we can unite the Fields, convince the other Fields to join, and stop this menace before he takes over both worlds."

"Do you know who this Digimon is?" Tai asked.

"Yes….his name…is NeoDevimon," Everything went silent, "and yes…unfortunately it is the evolved from the same Devimon you defeated eight years ago."

I felt T.K.'s grip tighten on my shoulder. I had only heard in stories what happened eight years ago on File Island. How Angemon sacrificed himself to defeat Devimon and save T.K. He never liked to talk about that day, it always brought up bad memories for him; it took him years to finally tell me about it. I grabbed his hand in an attempt to comfort him, but I could see by the look in his eyes that he was already the other T.K., the one who hates evil and will do anything to defeat it.

"That still doesn't explain what happened to our Digimon." Mimi stated.

"That's the other thing. Somehow NeoDevimon has acquired a weapon that can delete a mass of Digimon in a single strike. He used it on the human world so the Digimon there could not fight against him. I'm positive he will use it here as well. I was able to save the newer Digidestined's eggs" Gennai gave Davis, Ken, Yolei, and Cody each an egg. Everyone started pondering on the thought of a weapon of that power. I couldn't help but notice a strange look on Izzy's face.

"So our Digimon must be at Primary Village!?" Mimi exclaimed.

"Unfortunately no…NeoDevimon has learned from his past. I was able to save your Digimon from the effect of the weapon. However, NeoDevimon found them before I could and attacked them. They were able to obtain champion level on their own but it wasn't enough. He petrified them in stone and moved them into his fortress for safe keeping. It was only by their sacrifice I was able to save the others"

"This all happened within that timeframe we weren't here!?" Davis yelled confused.

"As I said NeoDevimon was ready."

Everyone went silent again. This old enemy was back stronger than ever and had already taken away our partners. It seemed so hopeless. Gennai pulled out a remote and hit a button, monitors on the wall started showing the human world under attack and armies of Digimon massing in the Digital World. I couldn't help but start crying again and the other girls follow suit. I laid my head on T.K. shoulders; he still hadn't changed expressions since the mention of NeoDevimon's name. Finally, Tai spoke up,

"What do we have to do?"

"You must come with me to the ancient ruins; there we may find a way to fight this menace."

"Well…" Davis pulled himself up, "let's get going then."

"You won't be coming. In fact, none of you newer Digidestined will." Everyone stared.

"But why," Cody asked.

"This task can only be completed by the original eight Digidestined." I looked at the older ones and T.K.

"But we're the ones with Digimon, it doesn't make any …" before Davis could argue Tai stopped him.

"If Gennai says it's the only way then it's the only way."

Davis went quiet for a second until he finally accepted the truth, "Alright. But if anything happens to Kari I'll blame you T.K."

T.K. finally smiled, he went up to Davis and they clasped hands, "I won't let anything happen to her Davis and I'll make sure to give NeoDevimon one good hit from you." Davis nodded.

Gennai stepped forward, "I will send the rest of you back home. With your Digimon you should be able to help hold back NeoDevimon's forces for a while.

The newer kids nodded. Everyone exchanged hugs and best wishes. They stepped back from us and in the blink of an eye they were gone. I could only pray that the four of them could help our world defend itself. Gennai turned back to us,

"Are you ready?"

We all nodded. I took T.K.'s hand and with a snap of Gennai's fingers we were off.


	6. Power of the Digidestined

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 5: Power of the Digidestined

T.K.'s POV

We went from being in Gennai's house to being inside of what appeared to be ancient ruins. As we all regained our composure Gennai grabbed a torch from the wall.

"This way, I was not able to teleport us exactly where we need to be so we must keep moving."

We walked for a couple of minutes quietly until Izzy finally spoke, "Gennai I've been meaning to ask you, how come you've returned to your older form?"

"I have had to use most of my energy to accomplish most of the task I have had today, including teleporting you here."

"Where are all the other Gennais?"

"I have sent some to inform your world's governments of the situation, the others to help prevent access to any other part of your world. With no one but your friends having there Digimon partners, we must make sure that as of right now they can only exit through Odaiba."

"Won't that put our city in more danger," Mimi asked worriedly.

"Precisely why I sent some of my comrades, so that your world's armies may unite against this threat. From my connection with my brethren, that plan seems to be working. With the one access point, NeoDevimon will only be able to send so many of his forces at a time."

"What about Azulongmon and the other Sovereigns," Joe asked hopefully

"They are doing the same as my comrades from this side; unfortunately it is taking all their energy to do so."

"How long will they be able to keep this up?" Izzy reentered the conversation.

"It is hard to say, NeoDevimon doesn't seem to be attempting to enter through any other point in your world, but we can't be too careful."

"Do you think he's only attacking Odaiba because of us," Sora murmured.

Gennai hesitated to answer, "It would appear so."

At that moment I couldn't help but notice the guilt in all of our faces. Our first fight with Devimon had nothing to do with our world and now NeoDevimon was attacking our home as his revenge on us, on me. As much as no one would ever admit it, I knew they all remembered how he came after me specifically in our first encounter; that it was Angemon, my partner, who defeated him. I knew he would come after me again just like before.

"We're here."

We all refocused and realized we were standing in front of a giant stone door that had eight strange symbols on it. There was a cross, a demon's face, a dragon, a wolf's head, a dolphin, a phoenix, some gears, and two different beetle horns. Near our eye level we saw eight palm prints engraved into it each with a crest engraved within it.

"What is this place?" Tai asked.

"These are the ruins of my ancestors," Gennai started, "and if the legends are true, what lies behind these doors may be the key to defeating NeoDevimon. However, only the chosen can open this door."

It didn't take us long to understand Gennai's hint. We lined up according to how our crests were lined up: Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, Myself and Kari. He placed our hands on the door and each print began to glow the respective color of the crest and we stood back once the doors began to open. We walked in and torches began to light up all by themselves leading us to a shrine dedicated to the symbols we saw on the door, but only six of them had lite torches under them. Behind the shrine, on the wall, were some sorts of hieroglyphics with an engraving of the original Digivice.

"This is incredible," Matt spoke up first.

"Out of everything we've seen in this world, I've never seen anything like it," Izzy added.

"I wonder what it all means," Kari asked.

"It tells the story of my ancestors and the legacy of the Digidestined." Gennai stepped forward and began to translate for us. "Long ago, when the Digital World was still young, Chaos reigned over the land. Seven evil Digimon, known as the Demon Lords, led an army of evil Digimon in a conquest to claim the Digital World as their own. Even with all other forces combined, it seemed no amount of Digimon was able to stand up to the Demon Lords. Then, when all hope seemed lost, eight non-Digmon warriors step forward and offered to lead the Digimon into the last battle. Inspired by their courage, the Digimon made each warrior a general of each of the army's factions and bestowed upon them special armor and weapons that gave them power over the elements: Light, Dark, Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Steel, and Thunder. Under their leadership the forces of good were able to defeat those of evil. The eight warriors themselves faced the Demon Lords head on and were able to defeat them and seal them away in another dimension. The Digital World was at peace again and was divided amongst the factions of the army equally. As tribute, they each named their tribes after the nicknames of each faction that their generals had given them: Virus Busters, Nightmare Soldiers, Dragon's Roar, Nature Spirits, Deep Savers, Wind Guardians, Metal Empire, and Jungle Troopers. However, the warriors knew the Demon Lords' power was too strong and they would eventually find a way to break free from their imprisonment, so they made it so that new warriors may one day take their place and stand against evil. They created the eight crests which would be used to identify the worthy, and left them in the safe keeping of the four Digimon they chose to be Sovereigns over the Digital World: Azulongmon, Zhuqiaomon, Ebonwumon, and Baihumon. These new warriors would be call upon whenever something threatened to release the Demon Lords, and would come to be known as the Digidestined."

"So your ancestors were technically the first Digidestined," Izzy proclaimed.

"Yes, the symbol you see above was the symbol of our order; hence it was the inspiration for your Digivices." Gennai added.

"Wait, so according to this thing the Digidestined were created to make sure the Demon Lords don't come back. Does that me that all the evil Digimon we've faced have been trying to free them this whole time," Joe asked.

"Well, yes and no. It is unclear which, if any, of the evil Digimon you've faced have attempted to do so, but any loss of good would weaken the barrier which holds the Demon Lords at bay so for them to stay locked away there must be a balance and the evil Digimon you have faced clearly meant to upset that balance."

I couldn't help but ask, "Is that NeoDevimon's plan?"

"I could not say."

"Well," Tai started, "We're here and we've heard the legend so what now?"

"Now we can begin the ceremony."

"What ceremony?" Kari asked.

"To inherit the powers of my ancestors."

"Excuse me," Mimi questioned, "so your plan is to have US fight, like fight, fight?"

"I would've thought that was made clear during the story." Gennai said a little ignored.

"They're your ancestors, why don't you and your clones use the armor?"

"Although we are descended from the original warriors, the armor was made to only be used by future Digidestined, and at this time that would be you eight." Gennai said sort of sarcastically.

It got quiet for a second while all of us contemplated the thought of actually fighting Digimon ourselves.

Then Matt spoke up, "But, we're not warriors."

Gennai got serious, "If you want to save your world and the Digital World this is the only way."

It got quiet again. I don't think any of us could have imagined it would've come to this; having to fight the forces of evil without our partners, and having to become warriors practically overnight. It surprised me that Tai and Matt weren't the first to volunteer and I could only imagine how the girls were taking it. However, I couldn't stand the thought of allowing NeoDevimon to win:

"I'm ready."

"T.K. you can't be serious," Matt scolded at me.

"If this is the only way Matt, then I've never been more serious about anything in my life." Kari walked to me side and grabbed my hand.

"Kari," Tai approached us.

"Tai, you've always said that we should never give up no matter the obstacles, and I'm not letting T.K. do this alone." She looked at me and smiled.

Tai let out a sigh and wrapped his arm around Matt, "Well, what do you say Matt, I mean we can't very well let our younger siblings show us up?"

Matt sighed as well, "Alright, let's do it."

"I'm in too," Sora came up and grabbed Tai's hand. Matt looked at it sort of suspicious but before he could say anything Izzy came up behind them.

"You know, I've always wondered what Digimon experience when they receive a power boost, this seems like the perfect opportunity."

"As much as I shouldn't condone this I guess I have no choice." Joe joined in. Everyone looked at Mimi.

"Well of course I'm in, why do you guys always make it to where I'm last." Everyone laughed and we all got into a group hug. We let go and looked at Gennai:

"We're ready." I said happily.

"Then kneel."

We all knelt on one knee in the same order as we were at the door.

"Each Digidestined is to be able to wield one of the armors; however, the energy of the Nightmare Soldiers and Metal Empire are being corrupted by NeoDevimon, this is why their torches are not lit, so four of you will have to share, but the warriors prepared for such a situation so this will not affect your power." We all nodded indicating we understood.

"Tai Kamiya, step forward." Tai stood up and approached Gennai. "You have the heart of a warrior, always the first into battle and always unafraid. You shall inherit the armor of the Dragon's Roar." The dragon symbol began to glow red and then a beam of light shot at Tai. When it faded Tai stood in front of us cladded in red light armor that had the crest of courage on his crest, his Digivice was now a D3 with a red base and orange grips. At his side was a long sword with a Greymon style hilt. "This is your Dragon Sword. It will give you control over the element of fire." We all looked in amazement at what had just happened to our leader. He walked back to where he knelt and stayed standing.

"Matt Ishida, step forward." Matt stood up and approached Gennai. "You are a ferocious fighter and will defend those you care for to your dying breath. You shall inherit the armor of the Nature Spirits." The wolf symbol began to glow forest green and a beam of light shot at Matt. When it faded he was cladded in forest green light armor with the crest of Friendship on it, his D3 was forest green with blue grips. On his arms were two Gauntlets that looked like WarGreymon's with MetalGarurumon design. "These are your Nature Gauntlets. They will give you control over the element of earth." Matt walked back to his spot.

"Sora Takenouchi, step forward." She approached Gennai. "You are graceful, but can be formidable when protecting the ones you love. You shall inherit the armor of the Wind Guardians." The phoenix symbol began to glow light blue and a beam of light shot at Sora. When it faded she was cladded in light blue light armor with the crest of Love on it, her D3 was light blue with red grips. At her side was a three pronged folding Shuriken that's blades resembled phoenix feathers. "This is your Guardian Star. It will give you control over the element of wind." Sora stepped back.

"Izzy Izumi and Mimi Tachikawa, step forward." They approached together. "You Izzy are intelligent and resourceful; you Mimi are inspiring and caring. You two shall inherit the armors of the Jungle Troopers." The beetle symbol began to glow an olive green and beams of light shot at Izzy and Mimi. When the lights faded they were both cladded in olive green light armor with the crests of Knowledge and Sincerity on their respective chests. Both D3s were olive green; Izzy's had purple grips while Mimi's had green. At Izzy's sides were twin Axes that were designed like beetle horns and at Mimi's side was a chain whip designed like a rose stem. "Izzy, your Jungle Axes; Mimi, your Jungle Whip. They will give you control over the element of thunder." They stepped back in line.

"Joe Kido, step forward." He approached Gennai. "You are reliable to a fault and make other your main concern. You shall inherit the armor of the Deep Savers." The dolphin symbol began to glow royal blue and a beam of light shot at Joe. When the light faded he was cladded in royal blue light armor with the crest of Reliability, his D3 was royal blue with black grips. At his side was a hammer that looked like Zudomon's but longer. "This is your Saver Hammer. It will give you control over the element of water." He stepped back.

"T.K. Takaishi and Kari Kamiya, step forward." We approached together. "You are both the true definition of good; you serve as the hope and light of not only your team, but for the future. You two shall inherit the armor of the Virus Busters." The cross symbol began to glow silver and beams of light shot at us. When the lights faded we were cladded in silver light armor with the crest of Hope on mine and the crest of Light on Kari's; our D3s were both silver but my grips were yellow and Kari's were pink. At my side was a spear that looked like Angemon's staff; at Kari's was a bow designed after Magnadramon's Horns. "T.K., your Buster Spear; Kari, your Buster Bow. They will give you control over the element of light." We stepped back.

We all looked admired each other and our new weapons. We could have never imagined that being Digidestined would lead us to this. However, we could not forget that the only reason for these new and amazing powers was so that we may be prepared for the dangers we were about to face.


	7. Secrets and Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 6: Secrets and Confessions

Izzy's POV

Before any of us could get too excited about our newfound powers, we remembered that we had a job to do so we turned our attention back to Gennai:

"Now that you have the means to defend yourselves, you can begin your journey."

"Wait, what journey?" Tai was a little confused, "I thought we got these powers so we could fight NeoDevimon?"

"All though your powers are great, only with the combined powers of the eight DigiMemories can you truly hope to defeat NeoDevimon."

"Digi what?" We all asked.

Before he answered us he snapped his fingers again and we we're teleported back to his house.

**Gennai's House**

Gennai brought up one of his computer screens and began to explain, "As I explained earlier, each Field is representative of one species of Digimon. After the final battle long ago, the species each created a memento for their general in their memory, hence they were called the DigiMemories. Each DigiMemory actually contains immense power and the right to rule over that particular Field. If one were to obtain all eight, they would have control over all the Digital World and almost unlimited power. This is what I believe is NeoDevimon's plan as he already possesses control over two of the memories. You must not only stop him from obtaining the other DigiMemories but also get back the ones he already controls. In these fields there are Sages who protect the memories. You now wield the armor of my ancestors which gives you the ability to wield the DigiMemories. You must go out and collect the DigiMemories; only then will you have the means to defeat NeoDevimon."

Matt spoke up, "So when do we start?"

"Tomorrow."

"Why not right now?" T.K. asked.

"I know it seems critical to start right away, but considering all you have been through today it would be better if you all rest before anything else. According to my comrades, NeoDevimon's forces have ceased attacking for today."

"I agree with Gennai," Joe interjected, "We should get some rest that way we're at our best for what is about to happen."

As much as I could tell it pained T.K., Tai, and Matt, we all agreed that rest wasn't such a bad idea. Gennai brought us out some food for us and we ate while once again admiring our new armor and weapons. After we were done eating everyone tried their best to relax; I saw Mimi still looking at a screen showing the destruction around Odaiba, I couldn't stand to see her so sad so I tried to cheer her up:

"Well, looked on the bright side."

"What's the bright side," She looked at me confused.

"At least you don't have to turn in that project," I smiled hopefully.

"What project?"

"The one we've been working on for these past few weeks." I should have figured she would have forgotten completely about that considering.

"Oh, yeah." I knew I immediately failed.

"I'm sorry Mimi."

"No Izzy I'm sorry, I know what you were trying to do and I really appreciate it," She held my hand, "I'm just scared is all. I mean this is going to be our first real adventure without our partners. I don't know if I'm strong enough without Palmon."

I grabbed her other hand, "Mimi, you have to stop doing that to yourself. It's like I tell you when we're studying, you need to believe in yourself. You are an original Digidestined for a reason, you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. You don't need to be afraid because if worse comes to worse I will not let anything happen to you!"

"You won't?"

It was in her question I realized what I had just said. I had always admired Mimi but lately because of all the time spent tutoring her, I couldn't help but feel something more. I had been able to keep these feelings at bay by just reminding myself of how she was way out of my league; but standing there with her and staring into her beautiful brown eyes I couldn't help myself.

"We…I meant we." I dropped her hands and tried to play it off and she giggled at me.

"I understand. Thank you. So Izzy I wanted to talk to you about something…"

As Mimi started talking I saw Gennai leaving the room. I knew I had to talk to him so I followed:

"I'm sorry Mimi but I have to talk to Gennai."

"Oh okay."

I went out the door and chased Gennai down the hallway until I finally caught up with him.

"Is something on your mind Izzy?"

I hesitated to answer, "I…I needed to talk to you about…the weapon."

"You know what it is, don't you?"

I swallowed my guilt, "It's called Hypnos; it was built by the DWRG as a constringency plan if the Digimon ever decided to attack the human world. I was part of the group that developed it during my internship with them last summer. I didn't know what I was helping make until I found the files one night."

"What did you do?"

"I couldn't let them create such a weapon so I deleted all the files and made it seem as though they were lost. Then I left the facility the next day acting as if I had a family emergency. I wrote most of the program for it so they would need me to try and build it again, that's why they are paying for my education and everything."

"So somehow those deleted files found their way into NeoDevimon's hands," Gennai sighed, "Do you know how to stop it?"

"I'm not sure," I said regretfully, "Please don't tell the others? I couldn't imagine how they'd react if they knew I was responsible for this."

"I'm sure they wouldn't blame you Izzy, but I will respect your request." I sighed in relief, we came to another room which I assumed was his, "Can you do me a favor and ask Tai and T.K. to come speak with me?"

"Of course." I walked back to the room where all the others were, hoping I could figure out a way to stop Hypnos, and wondering if I would ever be able to admit it to my friends.

Tai's POV

As we were all trying really hard to relax I couldn't help but notice that Matt was staring very hard at me and Sora. I was positive he had no idea what was going on between us, but he was my best friend and her ex-boyfriend so he should know. Before I could go over and talk to him Izzy came back into the room from talking to Gennai:

"Tai, T.K., Gennai would like to speak to you two."

T.K. and I looked at each other confused and stood up. I figured I would talk with Matt and Sora as soon as I got back. We walked down the hall to another door where Izzy said Gennai were waiting.

"You wanted to see us?" I popped my head in.

"Yes, please sit down." After we sat down, he seemed hesitant to continue. "There is no easy way to say this. Once you collect all the DigiMemories and the final battle comes there will come a moment of ultimate sacrifice. Tai…you will have to kill T.K."

I was taken aback by what was just said and T.K. seemed unaffected, "What the hell are you talking about!?"

"In order to destroy NeoDevimon he must be restraint by someone with the power of light and struck by someone strong enough to wield the only weapon that can do it. T.K. and Kari can wield light, and you and Matt are the only ones strong enough to wield the weapon. Considering all possible combinations, I have chosen you two. You will have to deliver the final blow while T.K. restrains NeoDevimon. Unfortunately T.K., you will not be able to avoid taking the hit as well."

"How come you're only telling us," T.K. finally spoke.

"If the others knew now it would only cause an argument amongst you. I am telling you two in advance so that you are prepared." I sat there not being able to believe what was just said.

"Is that all," T.K. asked coldly.

"Yes."

With that T.K. got up and walked out of the room. I looked at Gennai one more time before I chased after T.K.

"T.K., you can't be okay with this?"

"I'm going to do what I have to and I would expect you to do the same."

"We can find another way." I tried to reassure him.

"And if we can't? I'm not going to let Kari sacrifice herself."

I stopped him before he could enter the room "I wouldn't expect you to, but to sacrifice yourself…"

"Look Tai, I've made my choice, and will do whatever it takes to protect the two worlds, especially Kari. Besides NeoDevimon wants me, I can feel it. I've made up my mind." He put his hand on my shoulder, "I love your sister so I'm going to go in there and enjoy the time I have left with her and you and I both know now is not the time to tell the others, especially her."

He pushed past me and went inside. I couldn't face the others knowing what I know so I stayed in the hallway. How could I kill T.K.? My best friend's brother, my sister's crush. There had to be another way. Hours passed and I still stood in the hall under a single light. I should've been getting rest like the others but I couldn't sleep with that on my mind. Sora finally came out to talk to me:

"What's wrong Tai? What did Gennai tell you and T.K.?" I told her everything. "Oh my God, you can't!"

"I don't want to Sora but if it comes down to that, it might be the only choice."

"I can't believe T.K. is okay with this."

"I know, he makes me feel like I'm the younger one here." I couldn't help but chuckle. "I just wish there was another way."

"I'm sure you'll find it, you always do."

Matt's POV

I woke up in the middle of the night eager to go on another adventure. I looked around at the others sleeping. T.K. was next to Kari and Mimi. Izzy and Joe were next to me and Tai never came back in after his talk with Gennai. T.K. said it was nothing important, but Tai is never like this. Then I noticed Sora was out of bed, I assumed she went to talk to Tai. I walked to the door to join them when I heard Sora:

"I'm sure you'll find it, you always do," I looked through the crack in the door and Sora was about to kiss him. My heart sank.

"I…I can't Sora," Tai stopped her.

"Why not, don't you like me Tai?"

"Sora I can't believe you would ask me that. I've been in love with you since we were kids and you know that."

"So kiss me." I could see the look in Tai's face. He had been waiting for years for Sora to say that to him and now that she finally did he took his chance.

I turned around and went back to bed. I couldn't believe my two best friends were doing this behind my back. Who knows how long they had been like that. I should've seen the signs. I laid back down acting like I didn't just see that. 15 minutes later they came back in, probably from a make-out session. They laid down and went to bed. I wanted so badly to call them out, but I realized there were more important things to worry about right now, come tomorrow we had a job to do and I wasn't going to let anything distract me.

T.K.'s POV

We woke up to the sounds of alarms. Gennai came in and activated the monitors. We could see that NeoDevimon's forces continued their attack on the human world.

"There is no more time to waste Digidestined." We all stood up and prepared ourselves. "You will have to split up into pairs to work quickly." We all nodded.

"T.K. and Kari, you will go see the Virus Busters to obtain the Holy DigiMemory and figure out their plans for retaliation against NeoDevimon." Kari looked at me and smiled; I smiled back even though I knew the truth of what was to come.

"Tai and Sora, you will go see the Dragon Roar's and Wind Guardians and obtain the Dragon and Bird DigiMemories and hopefully convince them to join the Virus Busters." They looked at each other awkwardly and nodded. Matt was staring at them as well until Gennai caught his attention:

"Matt and Joe, you will go see the Nature Spirits and Deep Savers, obtain the Beast and Aquan DigiMemories and do the same. They are on the verge of fighting each other so be careful." They acknowledged Gennai and each other.

"Izzy and Mimi, you will go see the Jungle Troopers to obtain the Insect-Plant DigiMemory. They are in talks with the Metal Empire on joining forces, make sure that doesn't happen and see if you can find out where Machine and Dark DigiMemories are as well. Izzy seemed to blush a little and Mimi smiled. We all took our position in our pairs.

"Are you ready?"

We all looked at each other and Tai answered for us, "Absolutely!"

"Good luck."

With that word we all disappeared from Gennai's house, off to save our world and the Digital World once again.

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The next chapters will be where the real story begins. Let me know what you think of it so far. I'll get the next chapters up as soon as possible.


	8. Love of Courage Ancient Armor Energize!

Alright guys here are the next four chapters, I also edited the first six just for some grammar errors if y'all know of any obvious please let me know its a big pet peeve with me. Every two chapters will be about the pairs. First up: Tai and Sora. I apologize in advance to Sorato fans.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 7: Love of Courage; Ancient Armor Energize!

Tai's POV

Sora and I found ourselves at the edge of what seemed to be a volcanic plain. We saw a giant volcano, miles away, and we could only assume that it was where we should be headed so we started walking. We walked in silence for about 20 minutes until Sora finally spoke up:

"So are we going to talk about last night?"

I knew she would eventually bring it up I was just hoping she would wait until all this shit was over, but considering we had no idea how long this would take:

_Flashback to last night_

As I was kissing Sora, the love of my life, for the first time I couldn't help but fall into the moment. To think after all these years of waiting for this moment and now she was finally in my arms and our lips were locked in a sweet embrace. Even though this was a dream come true all I could think about was Matt (no homo). I broke away from Sora and started looking out the window.

"What's wrong Tai? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not, but I think I might have."

"What do you mean?"

"Matt."

"Matt?"

I turned around and looked at her, "About two weeks ago Matt and I were just hanging out as usual at the bar. I was actually going to talk to him about the possibility of asking you out when all of the sudden he saw two attractive girls. He wanted to go talk to them but I wasn't feeling it. He was already a little drunk so he started getting all upset with me wondering why I wouldn't go over and talk to them with him. So I tried to bring you up and the mention of it set him off. He started accusing me of breaking 'Bro Code' and stuff like that so to calm him down I lied saying I didn't like you. He didn't believe me and left and we haven't talked about it since; yesterday was the first time we saw each other since then."

"So that's why he's been acting so weird, but what does that have to do with us?"

"I'm just confused," I turned around and grabbed her hands, "Look Sora, nothing would make me happier than to be with you right now, but under the circumstances this is not the best time…" She was about to say something but I embraced her before she could, 'I promise you we will figure all of this out when this is done; right now we should just go to bed and get some sleep.

With that we walked back into the room and laid down to rest. I was grateful nobody else was awake, especially Matt.

_End Flashback_

"There's nothing left to talk about. I said all I had to last night."

I didn't mean to sound so cruel but I wanted to stay focused on the task at hand. It got quiet again for a while; after walking for a couple of hours we decided to rest for a while. Sora sat on a rock nearby while I looked out for any trouble, I knew we had powers now, but since we had never used them before I was still cautious. I looked over at Sora every now again and I could see that she was upset. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid; but how was I supposed to that she felt the same about me and that we were going to be partnered up after what happened? In all honesty, I would've loved nothing more than to tell her I love her and ask her to be my girlfriend, but with everything going on it only seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

Then I broke the silence, "We should probably get going again."

Without a word she stood up and we started trekking on. Another hour of awkward silence and I couldn't take it anymore:

"Look Sora, I didn't mean what I said earlier the way it sounded."

"Really!? Because to me it seemed like you want nothing to do with me anymore!" I could hear the anger in her voice.

"That's not what I meant at all."

"Whatever Tai, let's just keep moving."

"No! We're not going to just keep going on like this is happening. We're not going to be any good working together if we're mad at each other!"

"You seemed to be okay with that idea earlier!"

"Well I wasn't, so don't put words in my mouth." I took a breath to calm down, "Just tell me how you are feeling."

"How am I feeling!? One day your telling me you may love me and the next day your saying you can't because of my ex!?"

"Who is also my best friend!"

"That's not the point Tai!"

"Then what is Sora!?"

"It doesn't matter now because you have clearly made up your mind about us!"

"That's not fair Sora."

"I'll tell you what's not fair; what's not fair is…"

She got quiet, "Is what Sora?"

She still wouldn't speak. Then I noticed she wasn't looking at me anymore, but behind me so I turned around. Behind me a few yards away, up a hill, was a red raptor looking type Digimon with wing-like ears and a hazard sign on its chest. A lot of new Digimon, ones we had never seen before, were starting to make themselves known through these past years according to Izzy and DWRG's research and this was one of them, "That's a Guilmon," I remembered right away what it was. All of the sudden I noticed we were surrounded by a group of at least ten Guilmon. I could tell Sora was frightened so I got as close to her as possible. The Guilmon started to move in slowly; Gennai had never actually told us how to use our powers so all I could do was draw my sword. The lead one was signaling them to attack so I just started swinging around my sword to keep them back, "Tai!" I heard Sora scream behind me' a couple of Guilmon got a hold of her when I wasn't looking. Suddenly my anger took over and I could feel myself getting hotter. Then I realized I was literally getting hotter; I looked at my hand and it was on fire. I wanted to panic but then I remembered what Gennai had told us about these powers. I focused on my hand more until a fireball formed. I turned and threw it at one of the Guilmon that had Sora. It turned back around at me:

"Let her go!"

"Pyro Sphere!" It launched a red fireball at me and it was a direct hit.

"Tai! No!" Sora yelled in concern. However, the attack had no effect on me because fire was my element.

The lead Guilmon began to worry, "Get him!" The other Guilmon started to charge at me and blast me with fire.

All of the sudden I knew exactly what to do; I put my sword away and took out my new D3; I held it above my head and called on my armor, **"With the power of fire I call on the Dragon's Roar, Ancient Armor Energize!"** With those words the crest of courage on my armor began to glow and the emblem of the Dragon's Roar was on my D3 screen; a red beam of energy shot out of my D3and took the form of WarGreymon. I placed my D3 back on its belt buckle and the energy form crash down on me. When the light faded WarGreymon's armor was cladded over my light armor; I had his shin guards, hip guard, arm guards, chest plate, back shield, and all stood there in amazement for a second until I finally looked up and saw Sora still captured. I drew my sword and charged at them; somehow levitating. I sent one of the Guilmon flying on impact and swung my sword at the other which made it jump back.

"Tai," Sora was still in shock, "You look amazing."

"You think," I couldn't help but be a little narcissistic, "I think it suits me and…"

"Look out!" Sora screamed.

Another three Guilmon were about the tackle me from behind but before they could a blast of wind came from behind me and blew them away. I turned around to see Sora staring at her hand while air was swirling around it.

"What is this?"

"It's your elemental power," I reassured her as I continued fighting of Guilmon, "Now try summoning your armor."

"How?"

I was trying hard to focus on her and a Guilmon pinned me down but I caught his jaw with my sword. "Just feel it."

She closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them, she grabbed her D3 and held it above her head, "**With the power of wind** **I call on the Wind Guardians, Ancient Armor Energize!" **Her crest of love began to glow and the symbol of the Wind guardians appeared on her D3. A beam of light blue energy shot out from it and took the form of Garudamon. When Sora put her D3 back in its buckle the light crashed down on her. When it faded her light armor was cladded in armor that resembled Garudamon; she had shin guards and arm guards, a leather chest and hip guard, talons on her feet and hands, wings, and head guard. She immediately took out her weapon, unfolded it, and threw it at the Guilmon on top of me, but it jumped out of the way before it could be hit. The star flew back to her as two other Guilmon were attacking from the sides. Before they could hit her, her wings spread out and she jumped into the air causing them to crash into each other. She did a flip in the air and landed right behind me:

"Show off," I couldn't help but tease her a little bit.

"Jealous much" She stuck her tongue at me.

Before we could continue our little argument we noticed that the Guilmon had re-surrounded us.

"They don't look too happy with us," I said sarcastically.

"What was your first clue?"

We stood there back to back waiting for their next move. All the Guilmon began to open their mouths charging their attacks. We prepared for the worst when all of the sudden a voice came over:

"Enough!"

I looked to the edge of the hill where the Guilmon came from and there stood another Digimon. It looked similar to the Guilmon except bigger, without the hazard sign and with silver hair. I could only assume it was their evolved form.

"But Growlmon these humans…" the lead Guilmon attempted to speak up.

"Are the Digidestined and therefore clearly not responsible for what is going on. Now stand down!" He ordered ferociously.

With his word the Guilmon lowered their attacks and stepped back. Sora and I lowered our weapons as the new Digimon approached us:

"Forgive me Digidestined, we have orders to scout out the area and destroy anything not of the area. I am Growlmon, these are my soldiers."

Our armor de-energized as soon as we felt safe, "I am Tai Kamiya and this is Sora Takenouchi. How did you know we were Digidestined?"

"No other humans would have been able to last that long against Digimon without partners of their known. Tell me, that armor of yours, was it the ancient armor of the Dragon's Roar that the legends speak of?"

"Yes."

"Then you are most welcome here, my lord." With that he bowed to me and the Guilmon followed suit. Sora and I looked at each other a little confused.

"Ummm…we're looking for a Digimon that is supposedly the Sage of this area?"

He lifted his head, "You are speaking of Lord GeoGreymon."

"GeoGreymon?" My curiosity was peeked.

"Can you take us to him?" Sora refocused the situation.

"Of course, we will escort you to the capital." Growlmon let out a roar and out of nowhere two more Guilmon pulling a chariot of some sort came from the hill."

"Please?" He signaled us to get on.

We got on and with that we were off to the capital city of the Dragon's Roar. After about an hour of travel, I couldn't help but remember the argument Sora and I were having before all this happened:

"So Sora…about earlier"

She stopped me right away, "Just forget it Tai, you were right this isn't the right time or place."

"But I…"

"You don't have to apologize or explain or anything. In fact I would rather just leave it at last night."

I was hesitant to agree, "If that's what you really want…"

"It's for the best."

"But is it what you want?"

"Tai…" We stared at each other for a second. She wanted to say something but could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Ok Sora, we'll drop it." I hugged her and she hugged me. We didn't let go for a while until Growlmon caught our attention:

"There it is, Grey City."

We looked out to the distance and saw a city surrounding the volcano we saw earlier. We were that much closer to accomplishing our mission. I couldn't help but remember what that future held for me and T.K. and think of what it may hold for Sora and I.


	9. Love of Courage Because, I Love You

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 8: Love of Courage; Because, I Love You

Tai's POV

As we entered the capital city, we crossed under a gate with two golden Greymon statues; one on each side. As we continued on I couldn't help but notice all the Digimon around, especially all the Agumon; it made me think of my partner, hoping that he was alright and promising I would do whatever I had to in order to free him. Then I heard Sora talking to Growlmon:

"This may be a silly question, but why do you call it Grey City?"

He chuckled, "In ancient times, during the great war against the Seven Great Demon Lords, when the ancient generals asked for help for one last battle against them, only the Digimon of the Grey Family answered the call from our species; and so we honored them by naming our capital city after them. The city, and the entire field, is actually still ruled over by the descendants of those who fought, they are known as the Grey Council."

"So I'm assuming GeoGreymon a part of this council?"

"Of course, that is where we are headed now. Hopefully the Guardians haven't arrived yet."

"Guardians," I finally joined in.

"Yes, the Wind Guardians, the Grey Council is meeting with the leaders of the Wind Guardians to discuss what they should do about the Nightmare Soldiers. Personally, I have no objection to fighting, but it is unlikely we will join forces."

"How come," Sora asked.

"Probably because each field will be arguing over who should lead and how to fight. Our factions haven't fought together since ancient times," He sighed and then looked at us, "But maybe with you here we may find a solution. I mean we have the Dragon's Roar general back and you, young miss, carry the Wind Guardians armor correct?"

"Well yes but…" Sora hesitated to continue, "…we're not generals."

"But you are Digidestined, which means the power and the right to lead is yours."

I thought about what he said and he was right; as Digidestined we have always believed it was our duty to help the Digital World in any way we could. Gennai sent us not only to retrieve the DigiMemories but help as well, and if we were going to face NeoDevimon's army, we would need one of our own.

"We've arrived."

My train of thought was broken by Growlmon's voice. I looked up at a giant door with an emblem of Greymon's head on it. Growlmon open the door and we jumped off the chariot and walked into a corridor filled with statues like at the gate and hieroglyphics all along the walls. We walked up to another door like the one at the front and when Growlmon open the door we enter what looked like a giant meeting room; standing around a giant table was a group of similar looking Digimon.

"What is the meaning of this Growlmon," the head of the table spoke angrily, "You know the Guardians we soon arrive and this is a private meeting."

Growlmon bowed, "Forgive me my Lord, but I have guests," all the attention turned to us, "This is Tai Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi; they are Digidestined and, coincidently, bearers of the armors of Dragon's Roar and Wind Guardians." Their eyes widened and they began to whisper amongst each other. "Digidestined this is the Grey Council: Greymon, MetalGreymon, WarGreymon, ShineGreymon, he looked like a slender dragon with armor; RizeGreymon, he looked like a Greymon with red cyborg wings and a cannon for an arm; BurningGreymon, a dragon in red armor; EmperorGreymon, a humanoid in dragon armor; GeoGreymon, a taller, more slender Greymon; and our leader VictoryGreymon."

The Digimon stepped forward; he looked like WarGreymon but with more detailed armor and, instead of claws, he had a three pronged sword at his side, "Welcome Digidestined, I am VictoryGreymon." He bowed, we bowed back. "Why did you come to us during these troubling times?"

I stepped forward, "We have come for the Dragon DigiMemory; it may be the key to destroying NeoDevimon. We've also come to ask you to join the Virus Busters in fighting his forces as well."

He turned to the other Digimon, "We are actually meeting with the Wind Guardians today to discuss that."

"With your permission, we would like to stick around for that meeting."

"Of course."

Growlmon caught everyone's attention, "My Lords, they have arrived!"

We looked out into the corridor and walking in was a giant bird with four golden wings and a metal helmet. Behind it was a humanoid in white light avian armor, an armored looking griffin, a white feathered griffin, a Garudamon, a Silphymon, a Birdramon, an Aquilamon, and, for lack of better words, a ninja ostrich.

VictoryGreymon stepped forward and bowed, "Welcome Lady Hououmon; and welcome Valkyrimon, Gryphonmon, Hippogriffomon, Garudamon, Silphymon, Birdramon, Aquilamon: Winged Knights, and Peckmon, Sage of the Wind Guardians."

They all bowed in return and Hououmon replied, "Thank you, Lord VictoryGreymon, Grey Council," she noticed us, "and who are these humans?"

"May I present Lord Tai Kamiya, Digidestined of the Dragon's Roar," I bowed, "and Lady Sora Takenouchi, Digidestined of the Wind Guardians." The Digimon started at her, she was so busy staring at Birdramon and Garudamon that she didn't noticed they were:

"Sora," I finally got her attention.

"Oh…forgive me," She snapped out of it and bowed, "I'm honored."

Hououmon smiled, "Believe me child, the honor is all mine. Shall we begin this meeting then?"

Sora's POV

All the Digimon gathered around the table and began to discuss the possibility of war. From what I could tell, the Dragons were willing to fight but did not like the idea of being subordinate to the Virus Busters or any other faction. The Guardians were very peaceful and were afraid the war would just bring more war:

"We cannot allow NeoDevimon to continue this rampage," RizeGreymon commented.

"And bring more war to the Digital World after so many years of peace," Silphymon questioned.

"War is already upon us," EmperorGreymon corrected, "We must fight back!"

"And who will lead us? You Greys?" Hippogriffomon snarled.

"We are descended directly from the Greys of old, "WarGreymon interjected, "We are warriors by birth."

BurningGreymon interjected, "And I will be damned if I am going to take orders from some fairy or some peace loving bird!" He was clearly targeting the Guardians.

"Better than some hot headed lizard whose only goal is glory in battle!" Valkyrimon rebutted.

The Digmon began to argue inaudibly while VictoryGreymon and Hououmon tried to regain order. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and that they would let their personal vendettas stop them from fighting together. All of the sudden Tai stood up:

"Enough," They all looked at him, "I can't believe great Digimon such as yourselves are arguing over this when your World is in danger!" He took a breath and continued, "When we Digidestined had partners, they were all of different species; we had a dragon, a bird, a beast, a sea creature, an insect, a plant, and two angles; and we ourselves were just as different as our Digimon, but we came together and saved both worlds twice because we looked past our differences and personal desires because we learned that together we were strong and that only together could we overcome any evil that came our way. You Digimon taught us that."

I could tell that he had struck a chord because the room fell silent. I stood there and admired Tai like I had back during our first adventure. He was the same guy he always was; a goofball one minute and a fearless leader the next. Before anyone could respond, the building began to shake. Growlmon came running into the room:

"My Lords, a group of Devidramon are attacking the city! There must be at least a hundred!"

VictoryGreymon pick up his sword, "Tell the citizens to take cover," Growlmon bowed and ran off, "Greys, we must defend the city!"

Hououmon spread her wings, "We will assist you."

VictoryGreymon nodded, "What about you Digidestined?"

Tai pulled out his D3, "Do you even have to ask," he said rhetorically. I pulled out my D3 as well.

"**With the power of fire I call on the Dragon's Roar,"**

"**With the power of wind I call on the Wind Guardians,"**

"**Ancient Armor Energize!"**

Once again Tai and I took on our armor forms. The Digimon gazed in amazement having not seen us do so earlier.

"Alright," Tai drew his sword and took command, "let's do it. Charge!"

Under Tai's command all the Digimon and I charged out of the hall and spread out. I looked into the sky and saw all the Devidramon destroying the great city. I could see Tai's agenda in his eyes; payback for what they had done to the human world. He charged forward at one who had landed with its back turned, he leaped into the air and slashed down cutting the Devidramon in half and deleting him. Another one saw this from above and began to dive at Tai, but he was ready. All of the sudden, his sword began to glow red, "Terra Slash," with that he swung his sword and a slash on red flame shot at the Digimon and deleted it.

"How did you do that?" I yelled at him.

"I just made it up." He smiled and went back to fighting.

I could see Tai was okay so I took to the sky to help. I flew up and saw Garudamon out numbered. I took my cue from Tai and thought of the one attack I could think of, "Wind Blaze," above me the air came together and formed the shape of a giant bird; I threw my arm forward and the bird flew to three Devidramon and cut them like swords and they fell to the ground. Garudamon turned around and nodded at me in thanks. I looked down to the surface and saw a group of Agumon being chased by two Devidramon. I flew down and stopped just above them, unfolded my star, and threw it at the Devidramon to distract them; it worked. The Devidramon and Agumon looked at me:

"Run!" I screamed.

The Agumon took my hint while the Devidramon turned their attention to me. As my star returned to me, I turned around and flew away hoping to lead them away from the citizens. I could hear that they were close behind me so I tried to speed up but it was too late. One hit me with its claw and I fell to the ground. It didn't hurt too much but before I could get up they were already on top of me, "Red Eyes," Their eyes began to glow and I could not move; it was like I was paralyzed, "Crimson Claw," They each picked up a claw and slashed down at me I closed my eyes assuming I was finished, but when I heard them hit, I felt no pain. I opened my eyes:

"Tai!?" He was standing over me with his back to the Devidramon taking the hit. They lifted their claws and Tai collapsed, "Tai are you okay?"

"My Lord," VictoryGreymon and Hououmon came to the rescue, "Dramon Breaker!" VictoryGreymon slashed the Devidramon with his sword and they were deleted.

"Are you okay Lady Sora," Hououmon asked.

"Yes…but Tai…"

"Stay here and tend to him we can handle it from here," VictoryGreymon nodded and with that they were off.

I looked back down at Tai; I took off his helmet as well as my own. Seeing his unconscious body in my arms I couldn't help myself and started crying, "What were you thinking Tai? Why do you always have to come to my rescue like that? I don't deserve it. All I've ever done is cause you pain. I'm not stupid, I know exactly what I did to you that day at Matt's concert four years ago. I know what that must have put you through. I know I didn't make it any easier when You had to comfort both of us after the break-up or when I started coming onto you after all this time; but the truth is Tai, I've liked you probably just as long as you've liked me. As much as I hate admitting it, I thought about you a lot near the end of Matt and I. I've been so afraid of these feelings because I didn't want to put you through any more pain, but it hurts me not telling you how I feel," I hugged him, "and that's why you can't die, not now, not before we have the chance to talk…because…beacuse I love you Tai."

"I love you too." I was surprised by his voice and let him go.

"Ouch, that hurt." He rubbed his head.

"How long have you been awake!?"

"Actually pretty much the whole time you were talking," he was laughing, after all I just said he was laughing.

"Why didn't you say anything!?"

"Well you seemed to be on a roll so I let you finish." He smiled

"I can't believe you Tai of all the things you've ever pulled! I was so worried and…" then I remembered what he said, "Wait, did you just say you loved me?"

He sat up in front of me, "Well that depends, did you say that you loved me?"

I could feel myself getting red, "Yes…" and with that he kissed me. We sat there kissing so passionately I didn't want it to end. We broke away, "Stupid Tai."

"I'm stupid when it comes to you." He pecked me again.

I couldn't help but laugh, "That is the dumbest but sweetest thing you have ever said." We kissed again, "So…what about what you said last night…about Matt?"

"Well it's no secret that he will probably be upset, but knowing that we feel the same way about each other I'm sure he'll understand."

"Well we'll face him together, and I'll be by your side if worse comes to worse with T.K." We smiled at each other and he kissed my nose; then we heard cheering in the distance. "We should probably go see what's going on."

Tai's POV

We walked to the city gates, hand in hand, and saw the Dragons and Guardians celebrating as the last of the Devidramon retreated.

"You know you guys put up a pretty good fight…for bird brains." BurningGreymon said jokingly.

"You weren't too bad yourself, lizard breath." Silphymon rebutted. All the Digimon turned and saw us coming.

VictoryGreymon raised his sword, "Let's hear it for the Digidestined!" they all cheered and he and Hououmon approached us.

"You were right Digidestined," Hououmon addressed me, "We do need to stand together; and for teaching us this lesson, we have gifts for you." She signaled GeoGreymon and Peckmon to come before us.

"Tai Kamiya, I entrust you with the Dragon DigiMemory," GeoGreymon's chest began to glow and a red square shaped crest, with the emblem of the dragon and the initials "DR" under it, flew from it, shrank and flew into my own, "and with it the allegiance of the Dragon's Roar" He and all his comrades bowed.

"Sora Takenouchi, I entrust you with the Bird DigiMemory," Peckmon's chest began to glow and a light blue crest, with the emblem of the bird and the initials "WG" under it, flew from it, shrank and flew into Sora's, "the Wind Guardians are at your command." Peckmon and the others bowed.

When they lifted their head VictoryGreymon spoke, "So what are your orders, generals?"

Tai and I looked at each other and he stepped forward, "We shall join the Virus Busters and put an end to NeoDevimon!"

Everyone cheered and Hououmon turned to her soldiers, "Gryphonmon, Hippogriffomon, return to the army and tell them to meet us in the Virus Buster capital."

"Yes, my Lady." They answered in unison and took off.

VictoryGreymon spoke up, "Assemble the army!"

**Within an hour the Dragon's Roar army was assembled.**

"I would be honored to escort you myself." Hououmon said offering us a ride.

"The honor is ours." Sora replied politely. We hopped on her back; she let out a squall and lifted into the air. Her remaining forces and all aerial forces followed suit.

"It's two days march to the Virus Busters capital so let's move out!" VictoryGreymon lead his ground forces.

As we flew toward the Virus Busters, I was glad to have Sora by my side, especially knowing how we felt about each other. However, I knew before we could really be together, even before we would face NeoDevimon, I would have to face my best friend; not only about Sora, but about possibly of killing his little brother.


	10. A Reliable Friend

Next up Joe and Matt. I once again apologize to Sorato fans especially if you like Matt. Just remember its for the sake of the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 9: A Reliable Friend

Matt's POV

All of the sudden Joe and I found ourselves at the edge of a desert. We could only assume that we could walk forward so that's what we did. After about an hour of walking the heat started getting to me. I mean, of all people to send to the desert Gennai sent the Digidestined with water and ice Digimon. Once I started getting angry I couldn't stop; I was angry that Gabumon wasn't by my side, I was angry that there was nothing I could do to save him, I was angry that T.K. didn't tell me what Gennai talked to him and Tai about, I was angry that I was stuck in a desert with no sense of direction, and I especially hated that my supposed best friend and my ex were sneaking around behind my back. I mean I know she's not my girlfriend anymore but the fact that they would do something like that behind my back; it just hurts. I realized Joe and I were just walking in silence for about an hour; in truth, Joe and I had never really had a real conversation since our first adventure. I mean, we always ask "Hey, how are you, how have you been," and stuff but we never really talk and now it seemed like we had more than enough time to do so:

"So…how's school?" I tried to start a conversation.

"Good, medical school is just around the corner." He replied not too enthusiastically.

"Well that's always been your dream hasn't?"

"Yeah," still with no enthusiasm, "how's the music thing going?"

I sighed, "It could be going better."

"I'm sorry I haven't been able to make most of your shows."

"It's all good Joe; I know your busy and everything."

Then it got quiet again. That was the extent of any conversation we had ever had over the past couple of years. We finally came across some mountains:

"Maybe if we get to a higher elevation, we can get a better idea of where we're going." Joe suggested.

"Well, that beats walking in the desert." I agreed.

It took about 20 minutes to get to the mountains and we started climbing; Joe seemed a lot more willing to go through all this trouble compared to how I remembered he was during our first adventure. We climbed up to a certain point where we could start walking again following a path that was heading up. After about another 30 minutes all of the sudden I could feel the ground below us shaking, and the ground beneath me gave way. I fell down a steep edge and landed about 20 feet half way up from where we started walking, Joe slid down after me:

"Matt are you ok?"

I couldn't take it anymore; all of my thoughts had finally gotten to me. All I could think about was how angry I was, "I'm so sick of this!" I fell to my knees banging my fist against the ground, "This is bullshit!"

Joe knelt by my side, "What are you talking about Matt?"

"Look at where we are Joe! First we were in the middle of a desert and now we're climbing a mountain without food or water, no sense of direction, and to top it all off, we don't have our Digimon to help us! No to mention my life is crap back home!"

"What do you mean," he asked confused.

I really didn't want anyone on the team knowing my troubles but I guess it was inevitable. I started crying, "My band hasn't had a real gig in months. I'm almost broke; I already had to move back in with my dad. He says I either have to get a job or go to school; he even has me looking at the military."

"Wait so yesterday when I gave you a ride to your apartment?"

"I walked to my dad's after you dropped me off."

Joe was shocked, "Matt, why didn't you tell me? I would've taken you to your dad's."

"I didn't want anybody knowing my troubles; not even T.K. knows about me moving back to my dad's place. I played off the military thing as just a thought in one conversation we had."

"Why wouldn't you tell us Matt?"

"You guys got your own lives to worry about."

"What about Tai, or Sora, even I mean I know y'all broke up but…"

"Fuck those two!"

Joe's eyes widened, "Okay where did that come from?"

"They're backstabbing liars!"

Joe sighed, "Matt just because they like each other doesn't mean…"

I realized what he said and glared at him, "You knew!?"

"Well yeah, I mean the whole team knows."

"And you guys just decided not to tell me!"

"I thought you knew."

I grabbed him by the collar, "How was I supposed to know that my best friend and my ex were sneaking around behind my back!?"

Joe looked at me confused, "Wait, what?" I let go of his collar and told him what I saw last night, "Okay that's a new one for me. Matt, I swear to God I didn't know they had gone that far."

I turned away from him, "But you knew they liked each other?"

"Matt you can't say that you didn't notice too," I could hear a change in his tone; from apologetic to lecturing, "I mean do you remember when you and Sora first got together? Did you know that Tai was going to ask Sora out that night of your concert?" I didn't but I guess my silence said it for me, "After we defeated MaloMyotismon Tai didn't talk to anyone for like a week. Izzy and I finally went over to his house to see what was wrong. He was so depressed about losing Sora that he didn't want to face you two until he felt like he was over it. Do you know how awkward it was for him to be out with you guys?"

I wasn't going to hear it, "Whatever man, I'm sorry me and Sora had more in common."

Joe raised his eyebrows, "Oh really? Like what Matt? Her and Tai played soccer together and were friends before the adventures. I don't see you beating that."

I couldn't believe that Joe was saying this, "Well I was the one who brought her back before the last fight during our first adventure when she was all depressed…."

Joe rebutted, "After you had just gotten out of it yourself and I was there to thank you very much; and, if you want to go there, Tai was the one that saved her life when Datamon captured her."

I finally had enough, "What the hell do you know Joe!? You've never even had a girlfriend so you wouldn't know anything about it bookworm! You're not a real doctor so stop acting like you're mine. Just because you're the oldest, doesn't mean you can talk down to me! You've always been the weakest member, I can't believe out of anyone I could've gotten stuck with I got you! You don't even have Gomamon to pick up your slack so you're probably even more useless now more than ever! "

Joe got up, turned, and walked from me. At first I thought I was happy for shutting him up, and then I realized that I was treating him the exact same way as I did at Digitamamon's restaurant all those years ago, and how even after how much I treated him like shit, he still tried to save T.K. That he was one who came looking for me when I separated myself from the team. How he almost drowned saving T.K. Joe had always been there for us whenever we needed him and I had just basically told him that he was worthless. I got up and walked up to him:

"Look Joe, I didn't mean what I said."

He turned back around, "Yeah you did."

"No, Joe, really I'm upset with this whole Tai and Sora thing…"

"Will you stop blaming them," He got really serious all I could do was stand there and listen, "Do you really think they would anything behind your back like that? I'm sure they were just waiting for the right moment to tell you because they probably were concerned that you would react the way you just did right now! I've known you for 8 years now Matt, and as much as it pains me to say this you're still the same asshole you were during our first adventure! You get angry at one little thing and then explode on everyone else making them feel like it's their fault when really your just being selfish! When things get too hard or you can't be the hero in the situation, you walk away and come back like nothing happened and we have been forced to play along with that all these years! I don't know if Sora knows about what you did while you were on tour, but you know we do and Tai was the one to make sure no one said anything. Your brother even told Kari and Tai somehow even got her to keep quiet! Remember what you did the night after you and Sora broke up? You called Tai, Izzy, and I and we went out drinking and you started hitting on basically every girl at the bar and went home with one. Izzy and I debated on whether Sora should know but Tai stood up for you and told us to keep our mouths shut! And you're right, I know I haven't always been the strongest out of the group, and yeah having Gomamon as a partner has helped a lot but I can at least admit it, I have never denied it, in fact, embracing it has made me stronger and made me the man I am today! I may not be a doctor now, but at least I'm doing something with my life; while you're just stuck in the past! Just because you were the second strongest, and yes I said second because if he really wanted to Tai could beat you any day of the week, doesn't mean you can talk down to me!"

He got back on the path and started walking again; I followed him in silence. We walked for about on an hour not saying a word to each other. I really thought about what Joe had said to me, maybe I was putting all my problems on everyone else. We came to an old rope bridge crossing a canyon:

"I'll go first," Joe volunteered still with anger in his voice, I nodded in agreement.

We stayed a good ten feet apart to be safe. As we walked across I was wondering about what I should say to Joe; if we were going to be together on this we had to be able to stand to each other. About half way across I felt the bridge shaking uneasily; I turned around and noticed that the ropes were beginning to unwind:

"Joe, run!"

Joe turned around and noticed the ropes as well. We took off and the ropes started unwinding faster because of it. Just as we were about to reach the other side the ropes snapped. Joes jumped for the edge and made it. As I jumped I could see that I wasn't going to make it to the ledge; my life flashed before my eyes all I saw was regret and anger. All of the sudden I felt someone catch my arm. I looked up and saw Joe holding on to my arm and pulling me up. Once he got me onto the ledge we sat there to catch our breaths:

"So much for being the weakest one huh," Joe asked sarcastically.

I couldn't help but laugh, "I guess not," We laugh together for a second, "I'm really sorry for what I said earlier."

Joe looked at me, "I'm sorry too."

"Yeah but a lot of what you said was true."

"Well I can't argue that," he chuckled, "but this definitely wasn't the time or place for that."

"Actually I would rather have had it happen here than anywhere else. Although, you're the last person I would've expected it from." I couldn't help but laugh.

We sat there laughing for a minute and then Joe said, "Tell you what, when all this bullshit is over, how about you, Tai and Sora get together and just talk things out?"

"I don't know if I could face them."

He put his arm around my shoulder, "Well then I'll come along?"

"Really?"

"Of course, it's always easier when you have someone in your corner."

"Thanks Joe, I really appreciate that," good ol' reliable Joe

"Anytime, Matt."

As we sat there regaining our energy we started to hear explosion not too far away. We turned and saw that they were coming from the next cliff over. We ran over and looked down and saw a beachfront where two groups of Digimon were fighting:

"Something tells me those are the armies we're looking for," Joe commented.

I fixed my gauntlets, "Well, shall we introduce ourselves?"

Joe looked at his hammer, "You know we still don't know how to use these."

As soon as Joe said that our D3's began to glow. We looked at them, and then looked at each other, smiling and knowing what to do. We held our D3's above our heads:

"**With the power of earth I call on the Nature Spirits,"**

"**With the power of water I call on the Deep Savers,"**

"**Ancient Armor Energize!"**

With those words our crest began to glow and the wolf emblem appeared on my D3 while a dolphin appeared on Joe's. A beam of forest green energy flew from my D3 and took the form of MetalGarurumon; a beam of royal blue energy did the same from Joe's but it took the form of Zudomon. We placed the D3s back on their buckles and the energy came crashing down on us. When the lights faded, I was standing in a full armor which was an exact replica on MetalGarurumon's, but less metallic looking and not a single piece; my helmet was his head and upper jaw above my eyes and his lower jaw under my chin. Joe's armor was amazing; he had boots designed after Zudomon's feet, the one giant claw on his left arm, the turtle shell strapped to his back, and a helmet that only has above his eyes with tusks coming down and a horn on top:

"Nice look for you Joe."

"Well it's not as impressive as yours," Joe joked back. He looked down and saw that some Digimon had noticed us, "So much for surprise."

I drew the claw blades from my gauntlets, "Well then, let's get started." He drew his hammer and nodded at me.

As we jumped down into our first fight, I couldn't help but smile at the thought that Joe was by my side; it's like he was the one meant to help me all along. After all, what's a better way to reassure Friendship, than with Reliability?


	11. Giving Into Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon in any way

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Chapter 10: Giving Into Darkness

Joe's POV

As Matt and I jumped of the cliff into battle, a group of Monochromon began to attack. "Volcanic Strike," they yelled in union and fireballs began to fly at us. As we were dodging them, I realized something and yelled at Matt:

"Wait a second, we can't fly!"

Matt pondered the thought and yelled back, "Actually, I think I can."

With that Matt closed his eyes in concentration and within a second, metallic wings extended from his back and he swooped back into the air, easily dodging the attacks. He was admiring his new ability for a second:

"Uh, hello, still falling here," I caught his attention.

He flew down to me and grabbed my arm and flew back up. Still dodging fireballs left and right Matt realized we had to eventually confront them and decided to act:

"Alright Joe, I'm going to fly low and let go."

"Wait, What!?" I couldn't believe what he was saying, "and what exactly am I supposed to do when you let go!?"

"Attack one," He answered back casually.

"How the hell do I do that!?"

"I don't know Joe you're the smart one here, I'm sure you can figure it out," he dove down, "Here we go!"

"MATT!"

But it was too late, he already had let me go and I was falling directly toward a Monochromon before I could panic I felt a surge through my body and in an instant I knew exactly what to do. I lifted my hammer above my head and the moisture in the air began to gather around the top forming a sort of whirlpool and as soon as the Monochromon was within reach, "Tsunami Hammer," I brought my hammer down on its head and the pure force of the water knocked the Digimon unconscious. I regained my footing and saw another Monochromon charging at me so I put my hammer out in front of me to block and I stopped it dead in its tracks; with its own momentum I was able to flip the Digimon over my head and throw him, I stood there shocked in amazement at my new strength:

"Now this I can get used to."

"Not bad Doc," I looked up and saw Matt watching from above, "but check this out."

Matt took off and approached a group of Divermon that had cornered a Garurumon. He flew so low to the ground that his gauntlet was scratching the ground. I noticed that the gauntlet was glowing and building up earth around itself. Once the Divermon were in range Matt yelled, "Rock Wolf Claw," and with that he stopped and brought his claw up in a scratching motion and boulders flew up from the ground and knocked all the Divermon out of the way. Matt flew back to my side:

"Not bad, Rock star. Get it? Rock star, because of the rocks," I started laughing at my own joke.

Matt grabbed my shoulder, "Well the armor makes you look like Zudomon, but it definitely didn't give you his sense of humor." He smiled at me and we laughed together.

All of the sudden I heard the Garurumon howled out loudly and all the Digimon, even the others not on his side, stopped and looked, "the Digidestined have arrived." He bowed to us and all the other Digimon followed suit.

"This is a little new," I whispered to Matt confused.

"Just go with it," He whispered back.

Then out of the crowd of Digimon approached four, one looked a lot like MetalGarurumon, but more armored, with a gun on its tail instead of a blade, and a giant cannon on its back; behind him was a giant blue huskie looking Digimon with red gloves on its forward paws and a long red scarf. Another Digimon looked like a giant white Loch Ness monster and floating next to him was a tiny little pink half-fairy, half-sea creature looking thing. We de-energized our armor as they approached.

The MetalGarurumon look alike bowed and spoke up, "Greetings I am ZeedGarurumon, leader of the Wolf Pack and the entire Nature Spirits army, and this is our sage, Gaogamon." Gaogamon nodded.

Then the giant Digimon bowed and said, "I am Plesiomon, commander of the Deep Savers, and this is MarineAngemon, my second in command and sage of the Deep Savers." MarineAngemon smiled.

"I am Matt Ishida and this is Joe Kido," I nodded in reply, "Tell us, what is going on here."

"These over grown fish are invading our mountains in the name of the Nightmare Soldiers!" Angered filled ZeedGarurumon's voice as he growled at Plesiomon.

"We were doing no such thing you insulate pup," Plesiomon rebutted, "These mountains are neutral territory between our two Fields and you know that!"

"Then what prattle are you doing here!?" ZeedGarurumon asked angrily.

"NeoDevimon has convinced some of my forces to join him, and then they used some sort of weapon to destroy our home in a single strike. So we had to escape into the mountains, this is my forward party; the rest of my army is on the beach below."

"So why were you all fighting then," I asked.

"Because these animals attacked us out of nowhere!" Plesiomon claimed as he stared down ZeedGarurumon.

"You were trespassing in our territory; we had every right!" ZeedGarurumon rebutted back.

We noticed the Digimon were still on edge and looked as if they were ready to fight again, then Matt spoke up:

"Instead of fighting each other, why don't you work together!?"

"We don't need any help," ZeedGarurumon started, "we can take care of ourselves and the Nightmare Soldiers just fine."

"By what, hiding in your mountains," Plesiomon scolded.

"At least I still have my home," ZeedGarurumon answered back.

"Stop," Matt caught theirs and everyone else's attention, "look, we came here to try and save your world and our own and we can't do it without all of your help," he looked at me and continued, "I know how you all feel; that asking for help from others makes you weak, but it doesn't, it makes you stronger. This is exactly what NeoDevimon wants, for you all to stay separated so he can destroy you one by one. You're making it even easier by fighting each other. He has already destroyed our home and yours and he will come for yours next if he is not stopped!"

"What can we do," Plesiomon asked.

"You must put your petty differences aside. Join us and all the other Digimon armies and together we can defeat NeoDevimon and his forces!"

All the Digimon fell silent, and then Plesiomon looked at ZeedGarurumon, "Our armies use to fight very well together, and I would be proud to fight by your side once more."

ZeedGarurumon returned the compliment, "And I you," he looked at all the other Digimon, "and together we will put an end to NeoDevimon once and for all!" all the Digimon began to cheer. ZeedGarurumon looked at us, "Thank you Digidestined, how can we ever show you our appreciation for your wisdom."

I jumped at the chance, "Actually we are looking for the Beast and Aquan DigiMemories."

"How did you come to know of our DigiMemories," ZeedGarurumon asked.

"We are the Digidestined meant to inherit their powers," Matt answered.

"I thought as much by the armor you were wearing," Plesiomon said, "say no more, MarineAngemon."

Marine Angemon approached me, "Joe Kido, I entrust you with the Aquan DigiMemory," MarineAngemon's chest began to glow and a royal blue square shaped crest, with the emblem of the dolphin and the initials "DS" under it, flew from it, grew and flew into my own, "and with this you will now command the Deep Savers" He, Plesiomon, and all the other aquatic Digmon bowed.

Gaogamon approached Matt, "Matt Ishida, I entrust you with the Beast DigiMemory," Gaogamon's chest began to glow forest green and a crest, with the emblem of the wolf and the initials "NSp" under it, flew from it, shrank and flew into Matt's, "you now have the loyalty of the Nature Spirits." He, ZeedGarurumon, and all the other beast Digimon bowed.

When they lifted their heads ZeedGarurumon, "What are your orders, generals?"

Matt and I looked at each other and he stepped forward, "We will join the Virus Busters in their fight against the Nightmare Soldiers!"

Everyone cheered in agreement and Plesiomon spoke up, "Very well, ZeedGarurumon, if you would like we have transportation enough for your forces to travel together by sea."

ZeedGarurumon nodded in agreement, "Garurumon, head back to the city, gather the army and meet us on the beach by sunrise tomorrow." Garurumon nodded and took off. "The rest of us will head to the beach."

The rest of us headed down to the beach; it took about an hour to get there. As sunset drew near Matt and I settled down around our own little campfire watching the Digimon finally get along:

"Looks like we did good," Matt sighed.

I chuckled, "You're the one that did good."

"What do you mean?"

"As far as I'm concerned, you're the one who convinced them to join forces; I just stood back and watched."

"I only was able to do it because of what we talked about earlier."

"Nah, I think you had in it you regardless."

"Well I appreciate that Joe."

"Anytime Matt," I started yawning, "Well I'm going to get some rest, we got a big day tomorrow and we have to be up early, goodnight Matt."

"Goodnight Joe."

I drifted into dream land, assured that nothing bad would happen while I slept.

Matt's POV

I fell asleep not too long after Joe, as I was sleeping I couldn't help but get this strange feeling that something was looming over me; I felt my anger and fears coming back and I sprang up in a cold sweat. I looked over at Joe and he was still fast asleep; I decided to go for a walk along the beach and clear my head. As I walked along the sand, I couldn't help but admire the crescent moon, it reminded me how that was the one thing Sora and I loved to do together; though I was angry at her and Tai I had to agree with all that Joe had said earlier, hopefully we could all talk about it after we fix this mess. All of the sudden I heard a voice, "Oh Matt" I looked around and even though it was dark, the light of the moon was bright enough to show me that no one was near me but still, "Oh Matt," I started freaking out and dropped to my knees:

"Get out of my head!"

I looked up an noticed a cave not too far away from me and I felt the voice pulling me towards it. I entered the cave slowly and cautiously, the voice kept getting louder and louder until I saw a figure:

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

The figured stepped into the light and spoke in a menacing voice, "Hello there bearer of Friendship, it's been a long time."

I stood there in horror of what stood before me, it was Devimon but way different; his skin and hair was smoky grey and he had leather pants and boots with spikes on it; his wings were blood red and similar colored spikes came out from the top of his wings and his arms; he had blood red bandages on his forearms and dark golden claws; a golden mask with six eyes covered his face:

"Ne…NeoDevimon," I trembled with fear.

"Look at you all grown up now," he mocked me, "But no Gabumon, oh wait, he's back at my castle with all your other pathetic friends," he laughed.

"You bastard," I drew my D3, **"With the power of earth I call on the…"**

Before I could finish he interrupted, "Relax Digidestined I'm not here to fight you."

I don't know why but I put my D3 away, "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you"

I answered back offended, "Help me with what?"

"I know your feelings toward the bearers of Courage and Love," his eyes seemed to smirk at me.

I was shocked but I tried to play it off, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"You have a lot of anger towards them and it has been growing the more you deny it. Embrace it and you can have your revenge."

"Revenge…No, they're my best friends!"

"Who went behind your back and betrayed your trust. Did you deserve that?"

"No…but Joe said…"

"Reliability is in on it too; why do you think he was so adamant about defending them? Face it, everyone is against you Matt."

He started to get to me, "No I don't believe you!"

"You know it's true Matt, you know it deep down that you are all alone and no one is going to help you, not even your own brother."

I started losing it, "Shut up! You don't know T.K."

"I know he cares more about Light than he does about you, and you know it too."

It was true that T.K. had gotten closer to Kari over the years but I couldn't let that cloud my judgment, "Get out of my head!"

"And now he's going to give up his life for her."

I snapped, "What do you mean!?"

"A Digidestined of light must sacrifice themselves to defeat me, your brother and the girl fit that description. You know your brother won't let that happen to her and Courage won't let his own sister die."

Then I remembered when Gennai talked to them alone and I started putting the pieces together, "What was that!?"

"Oh didn't I mention, Courage is the one who has to kill your brother."

He finally hit his mark; I felt the darkness taking me, "That bastard, first he takes my girlfriend from right under my nose and now he wants to kill my brother, damn you Tai, I'll kill him!"

NeoDevimon took his chance, "I can help you stop them."

The evil in me took over, "I'll do whatever it takes."

His eyes seemed pleased, "Join the others as planned, obtain the other DigiMemories and then bring them to me and all your problems will be solved."

"What will you do once you have them?"

"That is my business. Do we have a deal?"

I hesitated, "One condition, you leave T.K. alone and return Gabumon to me."

He laughed, "And the others?"

"All of them deserve whatever you have planned for them. Except Tai, he's mine."

He laughed again, "I promise your brother and partner will not be harmed, and you will have Courage all to yourself," there was a hint of deceit in his voice but I didn't care.

"Deal, now how can I defeat Tai?"

"Give me your D3," my D3 levitated from my hand in front of his face, a dark aura surrounded it and when it faded and floated back to me, "I have given you some power from the Dark DigiMemory, now you will be able to defeat Courage."

I smiled, "Finally," I gripped my D3 tight, "he'll pay for all the shit he's put me through."

"But remember, I still need the other DigiMemories."

"You'll get them, as soon as I get Tai."

He looked toward the entrance of the cave and began to fade away, "The sun is rising, go now, bring me the DigiMemories and kill Courage."

I walked out of the cave into the rising sun, I couldn't help but be filled with anger toward all the other Digidestined but I finally had the power to make them all pay.

Joe's POV

As I woke up to the sound of ZeedGarurumon's army arriving. He and Plesiomon gather their forces by the shoreline and waited for their transportation. Then I noticed matt was gone, but before I panicked I saw him walking down the beach. I ran up to him:

"Hey Matt, where you…been?" I noticed something different about him.

"Just went for a little walk. Shall we get going, we don't want to keep the other waiting right?" he sounded menacing.

"My Lords," before I could say anything else Plesiomon came up to us, "Behold, your transportation, KingWhamon!"

Out of the water came a larger than life whale with an island for a head, "That's a Digimon!?"

Plesiomon chuckled and lead us to the island, it took 30 minutes to get everyone on board and we set sail for the Virus Busters' Capital. As we stared at the rising sun I looked at Matt,

"You sure you're okay, Matt."

"Never better Joe, never better," he laughed strangely and walked away.

I couldn't help but still worry about what was up with Matt; I suddenly got a chill down my spine that something bad was going to happen once we got to there.

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Hope y'all like where I left it. That's it for now. The next four chapters will be up soon but the confrontation will be after that so be patient.


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